A French Interview with Aubrey de Grey
In the French language press, translated via machine:
[JOL Press]: You are often described as "the man who tries to make us immortal." Immortality, do you believe?[Aubrey de Grey]: I do not agree with this presentation of my research. Sensationalism and this annoys me a lot because it undermines our credibility and affects, therefore, the money we can raise for [the research that] we finance.
[JOL Press]: In this case, how would you describe your work?
[Aubrey de Grey]: SENS is an association with a research center in California. We drive medical research whose goal is to prevent people from getting sick. One of our projects which we hope to make public soon, revolutionary advances, is to insert a gene [derived from bacteria] in our patients and prevent them from dying from cardiovascular disease - the No. 1 cause of death today.
[JOL Press]: You say "soon", you hope when?
[Aubrey de Grey]: In time ... there are different approaches to deal with - and destroy - the effects of aging on an individual and we are progressing slowly. We are continuing our experiments. If all goes as we hope, we expect significant gains in the rats of 8 to 10 years, then apply to humans in 20 or 40 years.
[JOL Press]: Specifically, what do you mean by "treating aging"?
[Aubrey de Grey]: Humans can live healthier, longer. Our approach is to transform the aging process.
[JOL Press]: How do you get there?
[Aubrey de Grey]: Regenerative medicine aims to repair the effects of damage, to prevent their recurrence. Our goal is to reverse the process, rather than just stop it or slow it down.