Editing Known Space (section)

===Boosterspice===
"Boosterspice" is a compound that increases the [[longevity]] and reverses aging of human beings. With the use of boosterspice, humans can easily live hundreds of years and, theoretically, indefinitely.

Developed by the Institute of Knowledge on Jinx, it is said to be made from [[genetic engineering|genetically engineered]] [[ragweed]] (although early stories have it ingested in the form of edible seeds). In ''[[Ringworld's Children]]'', it is suggested boosterspice may actually be adapted from [[Tree-of-Life]], without the [[symbiosis|symbiotic]] virus that enabled [[Hominidae|hominid]]s to metamorphose from Pak Breeder stage to [[Pak Protector]] stage (mutated Pak breeders were the ancestors of both ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' and the hominids of the Ringworld).

On the [[Ringworld]], there is an analogous (and apparently more potent) compound developed from Tree-of-Life, but they are mutually incompatible; in ''[[The Ringworld Engineers]]'', [[Louis Wu]] learns that the character Halrloprillalar died when in [[Amalgamated Regional Militia|ARM]] custody after leaving the Ringworld, as a result of having taken boosterspice after having used the Ringworld equivalent. Boosterspice only works on ''Homo sapiens'', whereas the Tree-of-Life compound will work on any hominid descended from the Pak.