Aubrey de Grey of Cambridge University, predicts we will soon have the science to extend the healthy life-span of humans to 1000 years or longer. He believes at today’s rate of scientific discovery in genetics, the first person to live to 1000 may already be 50 to 60 years old. Not only will doctors have the ability to stop aging, but to reverse the process by repairing genetic damage within your cells.
Is Aubrey de Grey a wishful crackpot or is he really on to something? He looks like a crazed hippy, but his science is strong. He’s set up a non-profit group called the Methuselah Foundation in which scientists compete for cash prizes by extending the life-span of mice.
“It is not just an idea: it’s a very detailed plan to repair all the types of molecular and cellular damage that happen to us over time. And each method to do this is either already working in a preliminary form (in clinical trials) or is based on technologies that already exist and just need to be combined. This means that all parts of the project should be fully working in mice within just 10 years and we might take only another 10 years to get them all working in humans.”
I’m skeptical of the prediction of the 20 year time frame. In the 1970’s and 1980’s the cure for cancer, flying cars, and cheap space travel was ‘right around the corner. Today, cancer is on the rise, I still don’t have a flying car, and I haven’t been to the moon.
Let’s imagine, science does bring extreme longevity to our generation. What would the world look like if people had a life-span longer than most trees?
Meet My 40th Wife
It’s difficult enough raising children with good values and a maintaining a happy, healthy marriage for a lifetime. What would marriages look like if we lived to one thousand? Current divorce rates are well over 50% today - would the ‘7 year itch’ become the 700 year itch? ‘Till death do us part’ takes on a new meaning then, doesn’t it? By necessity, those wishing to have children would be forced to have one family early in life and then live forever without children scampering around the house.
Only 630 Years Till Retirement!
Think about the repercussions to the length and quality of your career. Working and saving for retirement assumes you will live to 100 at the most. It would no longer be possible to retire at 65 when you are faced with a retirement that spans a millennium. We would all have to work till 650 years old or longer to put away the necessary funds to enjoy our golden years. If you have the stomach to think about working that long, how will this change the face of our workforce? The depth of experience and knowledge would be vast. Compare this to a mere 45 years we now face to build a career and a name for ourselves.
A Responsible Culture?
A lot of the world’s problems today stem from an attitude of short term gain over long term responsibility. Suddenly our children’s problems would be our own problems. Would people adopt a more responsible approach to the future, or would procrastination take on a whole new dimension?
How will government and religious leaders respond to such a radical change in our society? Would you accept a treatment that would extend your life indefinitely?
Links to this Topic:
YouTube Video of Aubrey de Grey speaking at TedTalks
Wikipedia entry for Aubrey de Grey
Methuselah Prize web site
Technology Review article on Aubrey de Grey
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