The natural phytoalexin resveratrol, found in grapes and red wine, recently rose 
to public fame for its positive effects on longevity in yeasts, worms and flies. 
Resveratrol anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory in vitro action on mammalian cell 
cultures also suggest a possible positive effect on human health and 
life-expectancy. To study the effects of resveratrol on vertebrate aging is 
obviously a particularly relevant question. We have studied resveratrol effects 
in a very short-lived vertebrate: the annual fish Nothobranchius furzeri. 
Resveratrol treatment prolonged lifespan and delayed the onset of age-related 
dysfunctions in this fish. This result identifies resveratrol as the first 
molecule which consistently retards aging in organisms as diverse as yeast, 
worm, fly and fish, but it also reveals the potential of this short-lived fish 
as an animal model for pharmacological research. Moreover, being related to 
stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) the "pufferfishes" Takifugu and Tetraodon, 
and even more closely related to medaka (Oryzias latipes), it can greatly 
beneficiate from the recent development of genomic resources for these fish 
models and in the future become a complete model system for the aging research 
community.