Walmart appears to be venturing into the metaverse with plans to create its own cryptocurrency and collection of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs.

The big-box retailer filed several new trademarks late last month that indicate its intent to make and sell virtual goods, including electronics, home decorations, toys, sporting goods and personal care products. In a separate filing, the company said it would offer users a virtual currency, as well as NFTs.

Walmart appears to be venturing into the metaverse with plans to create its own cryptocurrency and collection of nonfungible tokens, or NFTs.

The big-box retailer filed several new trademarks late last month that indicate its intent to make and sell virtual goods, including electronics, home decorations, toys, sporting goods and personal care products. In a separate filing, the company said it would offer users a virtual currency, as well as NFTs.

When the FDA established its standard 72 years ago, French dressing was one of just three dressings recognized by the agency. The other two were mayonnaise and “salad dressing.”

According to the original 1950 standard, a French dressing should include vegetable oil, and a vinegar and/or lemon or lime juice, and could be seasoned with ingredients such as salt, sugar, tomato paste or puree, and spices such as mustard or paprika. In 2022, the French dressing perhaps best known to Americans has a more creamy texture, sweet flavor and red or orange composition. There’s not much that’s French about it.

The Association for Dressings and Sauces, a trade association representing salad dressing, mayonnaise and condiment manufacturers, petitioned the FDA to revoke the rule in January 1998. The restrictions on what constitutes a French dressing inhibited what could be created to match the desires of French dressing consumers, the petition argued.

When the FDA established its standard 72 years ago, French dressing was one of just three dressings recognized by the agency. The other two were mayonnaise and “salad dressing.”

According to the original 1950 standard, a French dressing should include vegetable oil, and a vinegar and/or lemon or lime juice, and could be seasoned with ingredients such as salt, sugar, tomato paste or puree, and spices such as mustard or paprika. In 2022, the French dressing perhaps best known to Americans has a more creamy texture, sweet flavor and red or orange composition. There’s not much that’s French about it.

The Association for Dressings and Sauces, a trade association representing salad dressing, mayonnaise and condiment manufacturers, petitioned the FDA to revoke the rule in January 1998. The restrictions on what constitutes a French dressing inhibited what could be created to match the desires of French dressing consumers, the petition argued.

Restoring “youthful properties to old cells sounds like magic,” says Thomas Rando, director of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center at University of California at Los Angeles. “But it happens all the time in biology. We just haven’t been able to capture it therapeutically.”

When a sperm and egg from two people who are decades old combine, the resulting cells don’t inherit the age of the parents’ cells. “Every time there is a fertilization event, the clock of aging is set back to zero,” says Dr. Rando.

Resetting a cell’s age to zero would erase its identity. Dr. Rando and other researchers are aiming for “partial reprogramming,” in which, say, an old muscle cell or a neuron becomes a younger version of itself. Early laboratory studies are encouraging, Dr. Rando says, but the approach is far from being tested in humans.

Restoring “youthful properties to old cells sounds like magic,” says Thomas Rando, director of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center at University of California at Los Angeles. “But it happens all the time in biology. We just haven’t been able to capture it therapeutically.”

When a sperm and egg from two people who are decades old combine, the resulting cells don’t inherit the age of the parents’ cells. “Every time there is a fertilization event, the clock of aging is set back to zero,” says Dr. Rando.

Resetting a cell’s age to zero would erase its identity. Dr. Rando and other researchers are aiming for “partial reprogramming,” in which, say, an old muscle cell or a neuron becomes a younger version of itself. Early laboratory studies are encouraging, Dr. Rando says, but the approach is far from being tested in humans.

Still, with all the “longevity enthusiasts, there is this misperception that we’re close somehow to doing this,” says Matt Kaeberlein, director of the Healthy Aging and Longevity Research Institute at University of Washington, Seattle.

Huge technical, regulatory, economic and social hurdles stand in the way. For instance, the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t recognize aging as a disease to be treated, meaning there isn’t a clear path to approval for a drug that targets the biology of aging. Researchers instead have to design trials that can quantify whether a drug improves health or extends survival in a specific age-related disease. A pill that a large and generally healthy population would take, perhaps for decades, would have to clear a high safety bar.

Still, with all the “longevity enthusiasts, there is this misperception that we’re close somehow to doing this,” says Matt Kaeberlein, director of the Healthy Aging and Longevity Research Institute at University of Washington, Seattle.

Huge technical, regulatory, economic and social hurdles stand in the way. For instance, the Food and Drug Administration doesn’t recognize aging as a disease to be treated, meaning there isn’t a clear path to approval for a drug that targets the biology of aging. Researchers instead have to design trials that can quantify whether a drug improves health or extends survival in a specific age-related disease. A pill that a large and generally healthy population would take, perhaps for decades, would have to clear a high safety bar.

Can You Fight Aging? Scientists Are Testing Drugs to Help 

A magic pill that boosts life expectancy to 150 years isn’t likely, but an increase in the average lifespan for men and women is conceivable

Say it’s 2050 and you just turned 70 years old. You feel as vigorous after a workout as you did at 35. Your skin has nary a wrinkle. You don’t have to remember where you put your glasses because your vision is still 20/20. Your mind seems as sharp as ever.

Will people eventually routinely live—and live healthily—longer? That’s the vision of the burgeoning field of aging research, where scientists are trying to extrapolate tantalizing life-prolonging findings from animal experiments into medicines that slow, prevent or even reverse the aging process for humans.

Can You Fight Aging? Scientists Are Testing Drugs to Help 

A magic pill that boosts life expectancy to 150 years isn’t likely, but an increase in the average lifespan for men and women is conceivable

Say it’s 2050 and you just turned 70 years old. You feel as vigorous after a workout as you did at 35. Your skin has nary a wrinkle. You don’t have to remember where you put your glasses because your vision is still 20/20. Your mind seems as sharp as ever.

Will people eventually routinely live—and live healthily—longer? That’s the vision of the burgeoning field of aging research, where scientists are trying to extrapolate tantalizing life-prolonging findings from animal experiments into medicines that slow, prevent or even reverse the aging process for humans.