FOREVER YOUNG
IT’S said that the average human lifespan these days is 79 years, which is not too bad when you consider that in 1900 it was a mere 31 years (although it must be said that such a low average was due to high infant mortality). Most people would probably be content to live for about eight decades although it’s only natural to want a longer life. The desire to cheat death is a basic human instinct, which is why the search for the fountain of youth has been going on for thousands of years.
Stories about that have appeared in writings that go back as far as the 5th century BC. In olden days, the fountain of youth was literally magic water that explorers were looking for. These days, it’s a metaphor for something more scientific.
Why we age is not mystery. Autophagy is a physiological process that deals with the destruction of cells within our body. It basically allows our cells to clear up molecular by-products. As we grow older, we start to lose our ability to clean and recycle the debris in our cells. Once they build up to a certain critical mass, cellular function and our very survival is threatened.
If we are to talk about what ageing does to our cells, it’s important to mention telomeres, an essential part of human cells that affect how our cells age. Telomeres are the “caps” at the end of our chromosomes, holding them together. These caps shrink every time a cell divides, until they’re too short to protect the chromosomes, resulting in senescence (a process that leads to inflammation and the release of chemicals that damage neighbouring cells).
All this is a natural part of the ageing process. But there are many different initiatives with different approaches out there aiming to extend the human lifespan. Let’s have a look at some of the more prominent and interesting approaches: and shorter. Our bodies produce another enzyme, the similar-sounding telomerase to reset the telomeres. The researchers at this centre have managed to extend the lives of mice by 40 per cent by injecting telomerase into them. Of course what works on mice might not necessarily have the same effect on humans but imagine the possibilities if it could. Using a new process that reverts adult cells back to their embryonic form, researchers at the Salk Institute in California have shown that it’s possible to reverse ageing in mice. Not only do these test subjects look younger but they live 30 per cent longer. The process involves stimulating four genes — collectively known as the Yamanaka factors — that are active during the development phase in the womb. Again, just because this process works on mice doesn’t mean it will work on humans although some trials with human skin cells in the lab have shown some positive results. Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York are running a fiveyear clinical trial of metformin, a diabetes medication that has been found to have the side effect of boosting longevity in lab animals. The team is measuring the effect of the drug on ageing itself rather than on a specific disease and looking to get US Food and Drug Administration approval.
Older mice injected with plasma from younger mice are reported to appear healthier and show fewer signs of ageing. A California company called Ambrosia is taking this concept and applying it to humans although there is nothing beyond anecdotal evidence that older people who get blood transfusions from young donors feel younger and more active afterwards. This could very much be a placebo effect though.
Speaking of data, there’s another concept for achieving immortality involving data, although this one is closer to science fiction than reality. The Terasem Movement is a non-profit organisation committed to extending human life via “geoethical nanotechnology and personal cyberconsciousness”. In short, it focuses on preserving and downloading human consciousness. Rather than focusing on trying to keep the body young, the core idea here is to store data from a human brain into software and keeping it alive there until such time in the future where humans are able to generate brain tissue (and that data can be transferred to the newly-generated brain).
This company is in the business of cryopreservation, which entails freezing humans to preserve them until such time that science can cure the disease that caused them to die. To date, Alcor has frozen 150 patients and has a clientele list of over 1000 people who want to be frozen when they die.
All these concepts are still at a very early stage and nobody knows whether they can actually work, although some seem more feasible than others. One thing is certain though. All of these options will be very expensive. But like all technology, over time as economies of scale kick in, the cost will drop. Who knows, maybe one day extending your life might be as simple and affordable as seeing your doctor for a health check-up.
When will that day come? Will it be in our lifetime? Perhaps, but don’t bank on it. Instead, go back to the basics. Eat healthily, exercise regularly and get sufficient rest. These three things alone will do wonders to extend your life naturally.