1000 Years Of Healthy Life Extension Explained

Aging researcher Tom Kirkwood has described biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey's comments on the plausible results of accelerating healthy life extension technologies as "nonsense." Kirkwood, like many other mainstream gerontologists, doesn't buy into the idea that we can make real inroads into the treatment and reversal of age-related damage in next few decades. This, sadly, is a self-fulfilling prophecy - if everyone thinks that way, then it certainly won't happen, regardless of whether it is possible or not. Here is one of de Grey's comments from a BBC article:

I think the first person to live to 1,000 might be 60 already.

de Grey has a short and explanatory response to Kirkwood published in SAGE KE. Fortunately for those without subscriptions, it has also found its way to the Transhumantech list:

In your August 18th issue, Kirkwood [1] describes my recent claim [2] that the first person to live to 1000 could be 60 already as "laughable" and "arrant nonsense." I derive it as follows:

...

Arguable? Certainly. Laughable? MIT Technology Review's $20,000 "SENS Challenge" says not [8]. The longer that prize goes unclaimed, the hollower the skeptics' ex cathedra scoffing will ring.

Go and read the whole thing; I think you'll find it an excellent short justification for devoting high levels of funding to serious anti-aging research.

Technorati tags: , ,

Comments

Hello
I belive it is possible to live a 1000 and longer I belive that it has been done in olden times and is done even today but very secretly. I would like to be kept informed on what is being done and what is being discovered and researched.

Posted by: Henry Manning at December 26th, 2008 2:30 PM

Sadly, the universe is not determined by your beliefs. I can assure you that no human has ever lived much beyond 120 years of age, and changing that fact will require an immense and ongoing scientific effort.

Posted by: Reason at December 26th, 2008 3:06 PM

what supplements will i take to extend my life to 120 or above or 1000years?

Posted by: neiljan remigio at October 24th, 2009 12:13 AM

Nothing that you can take as a supplement and is presently available will much change the human life span. It is quite plausible that none of the few compounds that extend life in mice in the lab will do much to human life span when and if they become available.

Posted by: Reason at October 24th, 2009 9:54 AM
Comment Submission

Post a comment; thoughtful, considered opinions are valued. New comments can be edited for a few minutes following submission. Comments incorporating ad hominem attacks, advertising, and other forms of inappropriate behavior are likely to be deleted.

Note that there is a comment feed for those who like to keep up with conversations.