If we go back 162 years, to year 1850, human lifespan was only 43 years but now in 2012, average lifespan is 80 years. The question is how old can humans really become?
A book entitled “100 Plus: How the Coming Age of Longevity Will Change Everything, From Careers and Relationships to Family and Faith,” written by Sonia Arrison, says that babies born today might enjoy a lifespan of 150 years.
Investor and scientists in Silicon Valley are preparing for revolutionary progress within the field of anti-aging and gerontology.
Arrison spent eight years researching the subject of longevity and thereafter published her book “100 Plus.”
In her perspective, the human civilization is currently in a longevity revolution. She believes that triple-digit lifespans will become a standard phenomenon, which even her baby son will enjoy.
This great progress is thanks to scientific advancement such as:
- Being able to Grow organs from Adult human Stem cells
- Building body parts with highly sophisticated 3-D printers
- Biological engineering: Gene Therapy (might soon treat hereditary disease such as leukemia and blindness.
The biggest obstacle for extreme longevity to realize is investments. However, a co-founder of PayPal, Peter Thiel as well as a group of other billionaires is providing funds to solve the paradoxical challenge of death.
Thiel questions, whether it is really true that death is natural. Significant researches are proving death to be wear & tear issues, with lack of fixes.
Cynthia Kenyon who is a microbiologist and professor from the University of California-San Francisco have found that mutating one gene of a particular worm helped it to benefit of a life-extension equivalent to 100 percent. She is now working on replicating the effect as a drug, and therefore, transcends the same into human consumption, which is expected to make us stay younger and healthier for longer.
However, for Dr Kenyon to really provide strong result, money needs to be invested. In 2009, the National Institutes of Health provided only $164 million to the field of biological aging research out of the total $31 billion budget. They are therefore forced to rely on generous donors such as Thiel.
Longer life will need to be accompanied by some changes to typical life, such as several careers. But, the best thing is that people are given the option, whether to live long or not to do so, as medication for longevity is something that might be sold over-the-counter in the near future
Source: CBS
Thu, Feb 16, 2012
Gerontology, Immortality, Longevity