In this week’s edition of The Prototype, we look at the potential anti-aging properties of mifepristone, a new way to farm food, a new material to remove CO2 from the air and more. You can sign up to get The Prototype in your inbox here.

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Abortion is one of the major policy issues in this current election cycle. And one point of debate is mifepristone, a drug that’s commonly administered to induce abortions during the early stages of a pregnancy. Attorneys general in Idaho, Kansas and Missouri filed a lawsuit against the FDA last week aiming to roll back regulations that allowed the drug to be prescribed during a telehealth appointment.

But mifepristone isn’t only used for abortions. It’s also used as a treatment for patients with Cushing’s syndrome and is being tested as a treatment for other diseases. And new research published this week found that the drug could also potentially be used to extend people’s lifespans.

The study tested the effect of mifepristone and another drug used to suppress the immune system during organ transplants, on fruit flies, and found that both significantly increase the length of their lives. In the case of mifepristone, the flies lives’ were extended by an average of 114%.

One possible reason for this effect is that both drugs appear to boost a cellular process called mitophagy, in which damaged mitochondria, which produce energy for the cell, are destroyed and recycled. When people age, this process can be slowed down, leading to some of the effects of aging.

There’s no guarantee that the drug will have the........

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