Future Anti-Aging Drugs (Or Not)

Red Herring gets into the act with a rather traditional research mindset: "Every five years for roughly the last three quarters of a century, life expectancy in industrialized countries has risen by about one year in a phenomenally regular manner ... brought about by medicines that either cure a problem or increase the length of time people can live with chronic diseases. But drugs that prevent aging itself are on the distant horizon, and with them could come dramatic social changes. ... While many scientists agree immortality through pharmacy is not yet worthy of serious debate, and many are cautious of even making hard and fast predictions about life-extending therapies, most agree they are worthy of discussion and tentative planning." I doubt that effective therapies for aging will look anything like present-day drugs. Drugs are old school; the future is stem cells and gene therapy, engineered bacteria and nanomedical robots - and more.

Link: http://www.redherring.com/Article.aspx?a=15790

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