As you might have noticed, you can now pre-order the forthcoming Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS) book by Aubrey de Grey and Michael Rae, "Ending Aging: The Rejuvenation Biotechnologies That Could Reverse Human Aging in Our Lifetime." Aimed squarely at folk who want to know more about the science of repairing the molecular damage that causes aging, but find navigating the wild waterways of scientific publications too intimidating or time-consuming, this is a step by step, detailed explanation of how we could achieve radical life extension within our lifetimes, as best we understand from our present knowledge of our biochemistry.

If you're used to the "eat this, take supplements and exercise" longevity bookshelf, Ending Aging is a big step up - very much more "research this science to develop this specific therapy based upon that sound basis established over the past two decades." You'll be seeing more of that in the years ahead, and this exactly where your attention should be focused if you care about your own longevity.

Kevin Perrott of the Methuselah Foundation was kind enough to run up a banner for pre-ordering Ending Aging whilst redesigning the Foundation website. Here it is: right click, save picture as, and use it as you will to spread the word:

If those of you with artistic tendencies want to pitch in, we'd all be happy to see a more interesting selection than can be produced by those of us blessed with too little time (or too little artistic talent in my case). Have at it!

In any case, I'm sure you all know the drill of self-interested altruism here: publishing companies like pre-orders; it makes them happy and more likely to go the extra mile beyond established plans when it comes time for active promotion closer to launch. Promotion of "Ending Aging" means promotion of the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence, which in turn means that more people will come to learn about and support serious efforts to extend our healthy life span soon enough to matter for you and I. That is a big deal; we have to build the widespread understanding and support for large-scale research into longevity, and the only way that happens is one step at a time.

Besides, stepping off the soapbox for a moment and speaking as someone who edited drafts, it's a damn good book on exactly why we age and die - and what we can actively, materially do about it in the years ahead. So get out there and pre-order if you intend to read it after it comes out.

Technorati tags: book, life extension, SENS