A research team has discovered a new pharmaceutical on Easter Island which could be used to reverse the effects of aging, the Telegraph reports.

A chemical discovered in the soil of the island has been used to create Rapamycin which, when tested on children suffering from Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), a disease which prematurely ages children, helped clear their cells of defects.

Researchers are already looking into the possibility of providing the drug to a wider market, after similarities between normal aging and HGPS were discovered. Dimitri Krainc, an author of the study into Rapamycin, believes a small dose of the drug can “extend the health and life span of our cells and organs”.

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