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SEVERAL workers have found that mice fed diets containing large amounts of added antioxidant live longer than those fed standard laboratory diets. The size of the effect varies with the substance added, but it has been obtained with a wide variety of agents, including α-tocopherol, 2-mercaptoethylamine, ethoxyquin, tert-butyl hydroxytoluene (BHT), dithiocarbamates1,2and (in rats) nor-dihydroguaiaretic acid3. These studies were prompted by the suggestion of Harman4and of other workers5,6that both natural and radiation-induced ageing may involve oxidative free radical attack on long term molecules or on lipids6, including those of mitochondria7,8.