You know that guy who swears by their $200 NAD+ IV drips? The one who evangelizes about cellular rejuvenation between sips of bone broth at brunch? He's part of a multibillion-dollar industry built on what amounts to the scientific equivalent of "Dude, trust me."

Why does this bother me? Because two decorated scientists, from Harvard and MIT, respectively, seem bent on turning non-conclusive laboratory results into a longevity empire on the coattails of celebrity endorsements, credulous media coverage and $60 bottles of largely ineffective supplements.

NAD+ is a molecule in every cell of our bodies that helps convert food into energy and allows proteins called sirtuins to repair cellular damage. What's not to like! As we age, NAD+ levels tank, so celebrities and wellness influencers are taking expensive NAD+ supplements and IV drips, believing they'll slow aging.

The problem with all that is there's zero clinical proof their product, known as NAD+, works in humans. How can that be?

Meet David Sinclair, the Harvard geneticist who once claimed to have reversed aging in dogs (he hadn't) and regularly suggests we're months away from an anti-aging pill. His partner in this venture is Leonard Guarente, the MIT professor who says he was "the first" to discover certain longevity genes — though his own postdoctoral graduate student Matt Kaeberlein was actually listed as lead author on that paper.

These aren't fringe operators hawking crystals at farmers markets. These are tenured Ivy League professors who've mastered the art of the scientific shimmy — that delicate dance between respectable research and profitable speculation.

But don't just take my word for it. Examine their track records.

Their greatest hit came in 2008 when they sold their company, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, which made a compound called resveratrol that Sinclair claimed to slow or reverse aging in humans, to GlaxoSmithKline for $720 million — despite no clinical proof that resveratrol worked (the compound, found in red wine, was a craze two decades ago but is now considered a garbage supplement). Within two years, GSK shut down resveratrol research. Four years later, they shuttered Sirtris entirely.

The compound that was supposed to revolutionize aging turned out to be worth less than the PowerPoint it was pitched on.

Did our intrepid scientists retreat to their laboratories for quiet reflection? Dear reader, they did not. They pivoted to NAD+, the molecule du jour of the worried wealthy.

Their pitch goes like this: NAD+ declines as we age (maybe), which prevents sirtuins — those cellular maintenance workers — from keeping us young (possibly), so if we just supplement with NAD+ precursors, we'll live longer and healthier (totally unproven). It's a beautiful theory wrapped in enough legitimate science to sound plausible, at a dinner party.

Sinclair, never one for understatement, titled a 2016 paper "Slowing ageing (sic) by design" and wrote a book hubristically subtitled "Why We Age and Why We Don't Have To."

Meanwhile, Guarente's company, Elysium Health, now sells NAD+ supplements using patents held by ... wait for it ... Sinclair. It's a cozy arrangement where everyone wins except perhaps the customers seeking the fountain of youth in a capsule.

The most delicious detail? In a recent Nature Aging paper about NAD+, the ethics declaration listing potential conflicts of interest runs 500 words. Nearly half of it belongs to Sinclair alone, detailing his involvement with 16 bio-longevity companies and two venture capital firms. The man collects biotech stakes like baseball cards.

When asked about their claims, both scientists have ready answers. Guarente recently told The Wall Street Journal that research is "moving in the direction where there will be stronger and stronger data" — essentially admitting they're selling promise, not proof. Sinclair, caught falsely claiming to reverse aging in dogs, blamed a marketing vendor and resigned from the Academy for Health and Lifespan Research.

Here's what makes this story genuinely dispiriting: Legitimate longevity research exists. Real scientists are doing careful work on aging. But when prestigious professors flood the zone with sensationalized claims and profit-driven speculation, they don't just enrich themselves; they poison the well of public trust.

The NAD+ supplement market continues to boom, fueled by Instagram wellness influencers and biohacking bros. When Harvard and MIT professors are willing to stretch the truth, who needs evidence?

Maybe one day NAD+ supplementation will prove beneficial for human longevity. Perhaps Sinclair and Guarente will be vindicated as visionaries. But until then, they're just very educated people selling very expensive maybes to very hopeful customers.

To find out more about Paul Von Zielbauer and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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