The Science of Immortality
If you could live to the age of 500, would you want to? I can hear the answers now! “I don’t want to be a burden to my great grand children”, “Heck no, I can’t wait for heaven”, “I don’t want anyone having to feed me and give me a bath”. Okay, let me rephrase the question. If you could live to the age of 500 as a 25 year old would you? Now the answers change!
Science is making leaps and bounds in the study of longevity, although the problem is, is that we don’t have enough young people who have an interest in the science of aging to further the advancement in the field. I mean let’s face it, most of us don’t start thinking about our mortality till we hit the 40 year old mark, by then careers are chosen and usually not in the longevity sciences.
Now we have come a long way in the area of longevity science in a rather short time. Think about it… In 1908 the average life expectancy for a human being was 51.1 years old. Fast forward 100 years and science has brought us to a life expectancy of 75.2 years old. We can attribute this to the advances that we have in Medicine and knowledge in Diet and Exercise.
Some of the areas that scientists are working on to extend life are nanotechnologies which scientist Robert Freitas cites. Respirocytes are artificial red blood cells (nano machines) that can be injected into a persons blood stream. With an injection of just 5cc’s of these microscopic machines a person could run a 5 minute mile for 12 minutes without the need of taking a breath. Microbivores is another type of nano technology that is being studied. A Microbivore is an artificial white blood cell whose purpose would be to eat pathogens, digest and excrete them. A Microbivore could do the job of a normal white blood cell, thousands of times faster.
It is scientific fact that our cells are programmed to split only a certain number of times, and then to die. So tackling the aging process would have to start on the molecular level first, perhaps through cellular biology or stem cell research, which has it’s societal issues itself. Scientists believe that the life expectancy will continue to increase with the advancement of health and medical technologies, although most think that there will be a plateau of around 90 years of age with the current line of research.
To move beyond the 100 year mark I believe that thinking outside of the box must come into play, and research must start in a new direction to overcome the aging process. Although the question still remains: “Would you want to live to 500″?
5 Responses to “The Science of Immortality”
Leave a Reply
Subscribe To Us:
In my mind, the length of this life doesn’t matter to me as much as the quality of that life, which is understood by my initiatives to raise self-awareness, enrich lives around me and learn. Many people get wrapped up in numbers, and may say they desire to live longer. Yet, living “better” doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with how long your physical body lasts. Some people don’t know what to do with the time they have now. Others could fill whatever time they are given with what they consider to be meaningful pursuits. If you believe you never die, but only change form, you can look forward to learning different lessons in lives to come, when they do.
Living for several hundred years is an intriguing dilemma, but I guess it would depend on if your family and friends could also join you. From the day we are born to the day we die we experience a full life cycle, going through childhood then adult hood, all very different and great experiences, this makes life living a pleasure. Like all things providing we survive the next few hundred years as a planet, slowing down the aging process if not just science fiction, scientists know what causes the ageing process and are already experimenting with slowing it down.
We have an understanding of the biological process of aging. We have a theroetical idea of how to achieve the goal. We are producing stides in the techical possibility. We have the desire. There’s no doubt in my mind that “immortality” will one day be a reality as long as humanity survives. What will that do to society? What are the religious and social implications? Personally, it’s a grand fantasy that will one day come to fruitician. Most of us probably won’t be around for it though. We’d have to implement population control in the very least.
When that day cometh, there will be a new class of haves versus the new class of have-nots which includes the old haves. Evolution stops for human (as we know them now) but human engineering starts. And we have to face blue screens everyday ;-(
I would love to have a longer life span. I’m currently 20 years old. But I would love to get into the science of longevity, I love reading/learning about everything and anything. I would love to be immortal and sit there with tons of books to learn from.