Since previous studies have already shown how red wine is good for your health, Christoph Westphal, a biologist and CEO of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals in Massachusetts, and his team of scientists have been attempting to duplicate the beneficial effects of the fermented beverage with the use of various chemicals, this time in the fight against diabetes.

Red wine contains a compound known as resveratrol, which restores insulin sensitivity in mice and keeps the rodents' livers healthy by activating a metabolism-affecting protein known as Sirt1. Westphal and his associates have found that a chemical known as SRT1720  is able to duplicate resveratrol's Sirt1-activation effect, only at much lower doses.

Westphal et al have scheduled clinical safety trials for human participants for the first half of next year. They are also exploring other possibilities, such as using SRT1720 to possibly aid them in the fight against age-related diseases and cancer.