Immortality? Anyone?
By: Satvik Sharma
Tags: Medicine, Science, Biology, Biotechnology

It is a well-known story that the Chinese developed gunpowder as a mistake while trying to make a potion for immortality. While the former was directly the antithesis to the concept of immortality, the real quest for immortality just might be within arm’s length! Sort of.

Biology is wonderful as we may not really understand what the scientists are up to but we sure know what the implications can be. According to official reports: Scientists have identified synergistic cellular pathways for longevity that amplify lifespan fivefold in C. elegans, a nematode worm used as a model in aging research. The increase in lifespan would be the equivalent of a human living for 400 or 500 years, according to one of the scientists. Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/01/200108160338.htm#:~:text=Summary%3A,to%20one%20of%20the%20scientists.

While a nematode is very different from any mammal, the research suggests a life expectancy increase of 400% was found in the creature. Perhaps the effects of this study are not as great on human subjects but any progress is worth celebrating.

Another research published in early 2019 on mice gives a more closer look on the field and how things are shaping up for the better. Mice are mammals. And hence any study done on them are more likely to show results which can apply on humans. C. elegans, the test species of last research just isn’t connected to humans as much as mice are. The research focused on decelerating the aging process itself and other side effects that come with aging. The transcription read: Aging is a leading risk factor for a number of debilitating conditions, including heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, to name a few. This makes the need for anti-aging therapies all the more urgent. Now, Salk Institute researchers have developed a new gene therapy to help decelerate the aging process. Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/02/190219111747.htm

While the studies may point to a healthier future, what does it mean for humanity in the long term? Humans living after 120 years may mean for some that the earth is doomed to be overpopulated and we are digging our own graves. While on the surface level, this may seem true, things are seldom as simple as this. Humanity simply starts having fewer children when we reach a certain level of educational and social ‘complexity’, the reproductive cycle doesn’t function well after 45 years of age. So, adding 30 years isn’t going to add more people. Also, the total population of earth is going to take a downhill slope in about 30–40 years so the concept of overpopulation would be irrelevant by the time the new research can come to fruition in its max capacity.

Plus science rarely is a bad thing to trust (minus the one time when the US nuked Japan).

The social problems arising from his conundrum may be very complex, but the scientific potential in this new research is very heavy. The gene editing technique called CRISPR-Cas9 may be very helpful in achieving a longer life expectancy which can result in perhaps even greater scientific revolutions! Read more on CRISPR-Cas9 on: https://medium.com/rakt-community/crispy-tech-crispr-cas-9-51275985d0cc

Let’s live life to the fullest. If this doesn’t suffice, let’s extend the concept of fullness.