The fountain of youth has captivated the imagination of humankind for ages. The Greeks wrote of it, Ponce De Leon searched for it and David Copperfield claims to have found it. No matter when, no matter where, we, as a species, have always dreamt about that magical elixir that can lengthen our lives.

Over the years, we’ve been getting closer. Just a century ago, the average lifespan of a human being was estimated to be around 31 years. Today, that average sits comfortably at a little above 66. Modern medicine has worked wonders and, as a result, the world’s population lives longer and expands daily. We’ve grown from around 2.5 billion in 1950 to a current number of 6.75 billion. If all continues as planned, the U.N. estimates that we’ll have around 9 billion people walking this planet by the time we hit mid-century. But the plan may be changing in a dramatic fashion, transforming on account of some amazing research coming out of Boston.

The modern day fountain of youth was introduced to me by the scraggly voice of Morley Safer, a veteran correspondent on 60 Minutes who seems as old as father time himself. Safer began the piece by staring into the camera and explaining what’s known as the “French Paradox,” an apparent contradiction between the high-fat lifestyle in France and a relatively low rate of heart disease. Most researchers agree that there has to be something in the red wine responsible for this scientific abnormality.

But what exactly? The piece goes on to detail some amazing discoveries made by Harvard biochemist David Sinclair concerning the Sirtuin gene. The gene is simple and normally it is inactive, but, when made active, it has the potential to extend life. Sinclair tested thousands of compounds to see if any of them would trigger Sirtuin into its active state and, eventually, he found one that did — a substance called Resveratrol. Where does Resveratrol come from? You guessed it, red wine.

This is no small discovery. Sinclair — after teaming up with life sciences entrepreneur Christoph Westphal — developed a drug that delivers a highly concentrated dose of Resveratrol aimed at triggering the Sirtuin gene. Results have been encouraging, with success seen in mice and humans. “We’re talking about making a 90-year-old as healthy as a 60-year-old,” Sinclair told Safer, at which point I’m sure most viewers began pinching themselves.

Unlike most dream medicines, this one isn’t predicted to take a few generations to produce; according to Sinclair it could be out in as little as five years. If he’s right, we could be in store for one of the great ethical battles of our time.

While the report does a fine job reporting that the drug that can revolutionize living, I wonder why it didn’t ask some harder questions to the folks who plan to bring it to us. Are they aware of the consequences? If they’re selling it, are they willing to sell it only to those who can afford it? This would leave us with longer-living rich people and shorter-living poor people. Let’s say then everyone can get it; what will be the effect of turning 90 into the new 60? Can our planet handle it? Do we have enough natural resources? How about the buildup of pollution, poverty and overcrowding that would occur as a result?

On the other side, we’d be able to keep our “best people” alive longer and hence become more productive in the workplace and more likely to innovate in the laboratory. This may be true, but perhaps the skyrocketing population would offset the gains.

In any event, I thought it would be a good idea to have the producers of the pill answer these questions and not drone on endlessly with my own ideas. So, I called Westphal’s office and sent Sinclair an e-mail. Sinclair never responded. Westphal’s assistant requested an e-mail with my questions. Of course, I shot one over.

“The questions I want to ask,” I wrote, “are ones having to do mainly with sustainability and ethics.” After detailing the concerns above, I waited for a reply.

The answer came this past Tuesday when I was told that there would be no interview and that “Frankly Alex, it’s just not a storyline that they’re interested in participating in so you’ll have to go on without them.”

I can understand why they’re hesitant to talk. While the pill has the ability to work wonders, it would bring with it some serious consequences if mass produced. “If the predictions are true,” said resource economics Prof. Jon Conrad, “the results would be incredibly profound.” Not only would we have to worry about the sustainability component, he told me, but there would also be fundamental issues regarding people’s savings, retirement, stress on the healthcare system, viability of social security, and the list goes on and on. “Should the FDA look to approve this drug,” he said, “They would have to look at broader social statistics and focus more on potential impacts than usual.”

This case brings up fundamental issues regarding the practice of medicine. It must be asked: To what point should medicine be focused on lengthening and bettering the life of its patients? Should it continue on that path even if the longer lives of today are lived at the expense markedly worse lives of tomorrow? Just for kicks I asked my parents. “If that’s the case I’m checking out,” said my mother. Almost instantaneously my father agreed as well.