Holding Back the Years
The Observer is running a long article on the SENS conferences and the work of Aubrey de Grey and other gerontologists, starting with SENS2 in late 2005 and working forward: "Until recently a lot of people thought ageing was too complicated to ever get a real handle on. Someone described it rather graphically as like a car crash - everything just gets wrecked. The exciting thing about the current science is that we are becoming like sophisticated accident investigators. We can actually understand what influences the process of ageing and what parts of the body work most successfully to keep us in good health for as long as they do. The research is moving forward fast. ... During the conference I wander over to King's College to visit a friend struggling into his eighties with bronchitis, sciatica and other health problems. I feel a little embarrassed telling him about de Grey's theories, which shows how intoxicated I've become by the notion of a future where he will die soon and younger people will live for an extraordinarily long time. He listens patiently then recites the prayer to serenity: 'Give us the grace to accept the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.'"
Link: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,,2168142,00.html