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- throtmorton, on 06/26/2008, -2/+38Aubrey de Grey is right - we're already seeing that skin cells can mimic stem cells, that's a huge step towards the engineering approach that he advocates. Changing basic biology is years and years away, but trying to aggressively maintain the body, like a car, can start yielding amazing results in the next decade. That's the key to me, that we don't need a magic wand to have all of this happen simultaneously, just enough to buy time for the next wave of advances. Life expectancy was 40 years a century ago, and the rate of advances now is ever accelerating, so there's no reason people in their 40's shouldn't expect to live well past 100 - if we don't of course globally warm or thermonuclearify ourselves off a perfectly good planet. This is revolutionary stuff, and we'll see it happen in our (nice and long) lives.
- kevinperrott, on 06/26/2008, -2/+18The search for cures for age-related diseases individually will resolve logically to the search for ways to remove the damage that results in cellular malfunction and these age-"related" diseases. Using competitive prizes is a prove way to accomplish difficult goals and the Methuselah Foundation is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to doing the actual work with predictable success borne of the enthusiasm and dedication of its members. I am proud to be associated with such a group of altruists who envision a future where the aging process enriches, rather than diminishes, the individual and society.
- WalterSear, on 06/26/2008, -2/+16The conference Aging 2008 is happening this weekend at UCLA. Aubrey de Grey is hosting it. The friday evening event is >free< and open to the public. If you want to find out more, hear presentations by the leaders in this field, and ask Aubrey any questions you have, you should come.
Here's more info on the conference:
http://www.mfoundation.org/Aging2008/ - mindwalker, on 06/26/2008, -2/+15It would be nice to be able to live at least enough years to grow a beard that long, plus a few thousand more.
- skipthefrog, on 06/26/2008, -2/+14Gotta save the aging brain first.
- jascination, on 06/27/2008, -0/+12There's a fantastic talk by de Grey from TED in 2005, check it out:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/aubrey_de_grey_ ... - Morphenius, on 06/26/2008, -3/+14The fact is that even if de Grey's details about science turn out to be erroneous, his overall point is still valid. The sooner we put serious effort into advancing research regarding the reversal and prevention of aging, the sooner human beings will be able to benefit from it. It therefore behooves us to put power into research about this material NOW even if we turn out to be too old to benefit from its ultimate fruition.
However, I agree with de Grey and those like him. I think that many of us alive today will live to see the end of aging - and with it, the death of the dark era of human mortality. - reljoy55, on 06/26/2008, -3/+13This is an extremely exciting initiative and de Grey's theories and research are fascinating. I look forward to Aging 2008 to hear about these other luminaries in the field of regenerative medicine as it specifically relates to aging.
- inactive, on 06/27/2008, -2/+12------------"Without God, man is not, nor will he ever be immortal."---------
Where do you get the authority to speak? Lemme guess, out of your ass? Typical self-righteous nutbar response.
Where is the proof of this "God" fella you idiots keep babbling on about all the time!
Listen, 24000 people die EVERY DAY from hunger or hunger-related causes! 75% of them are children!!
800 million people do not have enough food to eat at this very moment even in this modern age!! America is only 280 million people!
5700 Africans die each day of Aids!!
We have Cancer, Aids, Polio, Yellow Fever, Influenza, Spanish Flu, Measles that wiped out billions and continues to do so!!
Why do you expect us to believe this "Almighty God" *****?
Piss off!! - GACaveDiver, on 06/26/2008, -0/+10I enjoy every day of life and wish to continue to enjoy life to its fullest for as long as possible. I am now over 50 years of age and would like for the next 50 and perhaps many centuries to come to be as exciting as the first 50 years of my life. I have many things in life that I enjoy and wish to seek out many new experiences. I like to scuba dive, explore caves, also scuba dive in caves, canoe, hike, backpack, camp, art (paint pictures), ride motorcycles and travel the world. There are so many things to do that a mere lifetime is insufficient time to accomplish the things that are available for one to do. I enjoy trying to learn a new skill every year regardless if I will ever practice that skill again once I have learned it. Life is so exciting and rewarding that I believe I would never tire of it for thousands of years. So, the prospect of reversing and/or stopping aging is very agreeable to me! I would encourage everyone to check out de Gray's Methuselah Foundation and help support the fight to end aging.
- WalterSear, on 06/26/2008, -1/+10crxvfr - you used to be able to say the same thing about airplanes, telephones and indoor plumbing.
Without God, man may not, nor will he ever, be able to crap indoors without a draft coming in under the door. - Janizzary, on 06/27/2008, -0/+6I wonder what Ray Kurzweil thinks of it.
- megapolisomancy, on 06/26/2008, -1/+7Defeating aging is only one piece of the challenge to defeat death:
http://www.depressedmetabolism.com/2008/06/22/radi ... - whiskers, on 06/26/2008, -1/+7Eventually, anti-aging treatments will become a commodity; there's simply too much money to be made to keep it exclusive to the rich and powerful.
- ShannonVyff, on 06/26/2008, -2/+8Yay, for more articles addressing the fact that humans can and should end aging! This would help with many of the world's problems, and would eventually benefit all. At first perhaps the more wealthy will benefit, but they do invest back into programs to help society--and as history shows most technologies and advancements in health care soon become ubiquitous -- to the more wealthy nations, then slowly become available to the rest of the world.
Aubrey knows that we could defeat aging if we put billions into it, but that may be difficult to do in our own life-time, and there is a possibility that even if we did put billions in--it may still take longer, that is why he is also signed up for Cryonics through Alcor, as is my family. Just in case it works, doesn't matter to me otherwise--and I'm leaving 6 times the amount I pay for it out of my life insurance to my children, and non-profits I support (one of them being Methuselah Foundation where I'm currently a 300 member, but also my church, UNICEF, Amnesty International, True Majority, Human Rights Watch, La Leche League and others I currently support annually).
I appreciate all the thoughtful comments on this timely article! Thanks to all whom take the time to post :-). - Malchiah, on 06/27/2008, -0/+6Hey I heard of this guy from a PopSci article a few years ago. Kinda weird but cool at the same time.
http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2005-01/prop ... - desertDenizen, on 06/27/2008, -0/+6I'm all for it if we can simultaneously boost the neuroplasticity of the immortals' brains. We'd never want to see a bunch of crusty out-moded can't-use-computers old farts with their concentrated wealth and power rule the world forever. Generational death is a good thing when it clears the road for progress from the next generation.
- jayobear, on 06/27/2008, -1/+7Does anyone else find it a little ironic that his name's de Grey and his research is in aging?
- hapax, on 06/27/2008, -2/+8Getting rid of death will sure fsck up a lot of religions. I can see the Church banning this.
- whiskers, on 06/26/2008, -1/+6Dealing with the junk that builds up inside and outside our cells (one of de Grey's primary focuses) may give us new ways of dealing with diseases like Alzheimer's.
- sunyata76, on 06/27/2008, -0/+5Yay de Grey! Met him at the BIL conference. He's brilliant, and I'm happy to see him getting coverage and support on Digg.
- chrisduser, on 06/27/2008, -0/+5A cure for aging is one puzzle piece needed to jump start intra-solar and extra-solar space exploration. I hope I live long enough.
- inactive, on 06/27/2008, -0/+5C'mon be serious, you can't try and stew up arguments to declare death aceptable. And as for this odd "natural" argument, I have seen "natural" and it has polio, six pounds of tapeworms, is blind and begs "all naturally" in calcutta.
FO with your sense of natural. - inactive, on 06/27/2008, -1/+6saw his talk on TED, I only have to make it for 15 years more and then I'll live forever
- MarianaPeyton, on 06/26/2008, -1/+5This story was quite interesting - I am all in favor for longer lives. Anyway, this story will be frontpaged at Digg because it was frontpaged at Wired.
- dshatto, on 06/27/2008, -1/+5I think Aubrey's on to something here!
I'm definitely going to Aging 2008 tomorrow. It should be a great event!
http://www.mfoundation.org/Aging2008/promote/ - inactive, on 06/27/2008, -0/+4Evolution in action!
- xxpostrockxx, on 06/27/2008, -0/+4Aubrey's initiative is extremely important and his research is fascinating.
- TheMoniker, on 06/27/2008, -0/+4Our ancestors weren't able to deal with with it at all. Much of literature, philosophy and religion is devoted to attempts at coping with death.
That something is natural holds no bearing on whether or not it is positive (and hence, whether or not we should do away with it): high infant mortality rates, murder and rape are all natural inasmuch as we see them in our closest primate "relatives" and they have been a part of human history. - Risingashes, on 06/27/2008, -0/+4Or: with a fixed population and an ever increasing technological advancement- forced employment could be a thing of the past.
And instead of being stuck in a largely needless profession everyone could do what they actually want to do. Middle management exists to coordinate and motivate an unwilling workforce, get rid of the unwillingness and everyone is happy. - witchaven, on 06/27/2008, -0/+4Dude, we've been giving nature the finger ever since we started making stone tools.
- inactive, on 06/27/2008, -0/+4I remember reading about this guy 4 or 5 years, glad he still working on it. Who wants Plastic Surgery just look (scary) young.
- WalterSear, on 06/27/2008, -1/+5Great!
Then all us heathens can wait a few decades until they all go to heaven and leave us in paradise. - kecher, on 06/27/2008, -1/+4De Gray himself in fact addresses this issue in his talks. It is amazing to me how some people don't care to look into the subject before posing such 'big' questions. Check out his talk in entirety:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/aubrey_de_grey_ ...
In fact Azarael's comment is the right answer to the question, lower your rate of reproduction and that's it. - inactive, on 06/27/2008, -1/+4Now we just need to pass this over to Old Snake and hope he goes back to normal
- EricPortal, on 06/27/2008, -1/+4Amazing, the press is picking up, we are approaching that critical threshold. Make sure you get to, and enjoy the UCLA conference this weekend everybody. Its "Aging: the disease, the cures, the implications". Its monumental, like the million man march and Ghandi sit ins but amplified by like 50 times the importance. Fridays confrence presentations are free, and the rest is like 150 for students. So get there, its cheap, and huge!!!
- lokisphoenix, on 06/27/2008, -1/+4On a more practical note, the USA is basically bankrupt with Medicare and Medicaid, the US should invest heavily in this because improving aging will allow the most productive members of society to work longer and greatly eliminate long term and other expenses associated with aging.
- Stevethegreat, on 06/27/2008, -1/+4You can only contribute to overpopulation by breeding like a rabbit. Look at the countries who overpopulate (pollute) our world and you'll see it's not those where people have long life spans but in those countries where every one of them making 10 ***** kids for a measure. If we want to stop overpopulation we should stop people from breeding as much, if we want to stop depression (as you put it) we have to make people to learn thinking by the time they're still in schools, by teaching them methods of thought, instead of letting them littering the world with their idiotic way to "pursuit happiness" .
- desertDenizen, on 06/27/2008, -0/+3I've read De Grey's book and it's quite rich on details for anyone who's interested:
"Ending Aging: The Rejuvenation Breakthroughs That Could Reverse Human Aging in Our Lifetime"
http://www.amazon.com/Ending-Aging-Rejuvenation-Br ... - WalterSear, on 06/27/2008, -2/+5You already do.
Most people on the planet die these days because they are poor. - theeEqualizer, on 06/27/2008, -0/+3I find de Grey's ideas more than plausible. I believe they are going to happen if we can keep from destroying ourselves that long. Anyone who thinks that it can't be done needs to read a number of Lord Byron quotes regarding cutting age technology of the 1800s to understand that they need to shut up.
My issue with it is the effect on over-population. We are sorely lacking resources and we are grossly inefficient with the ones we have as it is. I firmly believe that we can "cure" aging, and that we will. But we then have to really be thinking forward quickly to solving our energy, water, hunger, and social problems. People who don't die are going to make this place awfully crowded.
It occurs to me that Americans scarcely wants to listen to the opinion of anyone over 40 anyway. Will they listen to the wisdom of a 140 year-old? - mcentraigues, on 06/26/2008, -1/+4I really wish this works, I love life, is all we have and aging is a terrible end to it. I feel very lucky to be seeing this change happening during my lifetime. Science and technology are growing at a very fast pace now and more and more scientists confirm that the process of deterioration that causes our death can be controlled or even stopped like we do with many other degenerative processes that we call diseases. Well, there's no difference between many of those diseases and aging.
I always believed aging got to be wrong and now they are starting to prove this to me. I support Aubrey's work and ideas with all my life! Thank you Aubrey! :-) - dlsspy, on 06/27/2008, -1/+4He gave a great tech talk on this at google for those who need it broken down: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8554766938 ...
- slearwig, on 06/27/2008, -2/+5I think aging is a toxemia, not a disease.
I think eliminating excess anions like Phosphorous, Nitrogen, and inorganic sulfur compounds from the metabolism that work against electrolytes and CoEnzyme A is a start.
For instance, the body produces trace levels of Phosphoric Acid during sleep to process wastes back to carbohydrates, but if a person loses sleep or has their sleep disrupted frequently, the body will continue to produce Phosphoric Acid and the volume can exceed safe levels resulting in retention by the kidneys and recycled back to the stomach through the liver thereby increasing the concentration.
I suspect that, because Phosphoric Acid is a strong oxydizer, that it may be responsible for bleaching the hair to white in old age and damaging Pantothenic Acid/Pantothenate which is essential and used to produce CoEnzyme A.
For sure, I would like our food manufacturers to stop using Phosphates which can damage mucous membranes, and Ammonium compounds in baked goods and other foods which, when adding one molecule of oxygen to the compounds become urine and a second molecule of oxygen becomes Uric Acid responsible for Arthritis and other diseases. It's funny but in the 1970's Ammonium compounds were not used in foods because they were considered toxic. These days the food manufacturers and the government think ammonium compounds belong in cookies and hexametaphosphates belong in Hawaiian Punch and ready-to-drink canned teas. In the old days Hawaiian Punch was sold as a syrup concentrate containing no additives, no preservatives. The concentrated fruit acids and sugar were enough to preserve the syrup and I miss that version of the product.
It might also help to stop eating six-month-to-two-year-old food products bought at the store and return to eating fresh, but not food grown from manure, phosphate or petroleum fertilizers. - kecher, on 06/27/2008, -0/+3Not so obvious if you really think about it. Medicine today indeed extends life, but its main problem that De Grey notes is that it usually tries to fix the consequences when the cell damage has already occurred ( e.g. Alzheimer ), and not to prevent the actual conditions that allowed for this damage to occur.
The approach here is less than conventional and that's why he fights this uphill battle with the establishment to get his ideas across. Check out one of his talks at http://www.ted.com - colasrtney, on 06/27/2008, -1/+3I like doing very detailed drawings so I'm looking forward to doing self portraits when I'm old. That, and flipping off everyone and getting away with it because, hey, I'm old.
- reason, on 06/27/2008, -1/+3All those folk who worked hard to get the Methuselah Foundation off the ground and funded back in 2004 should be feeling pretty happy right around now. It looks set to be the boulder that leads the avalanche, gathering legitimacy and researchers at an accelerating rate to the task of repairing the biochemical damage of aging.
- s2ao, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2Maybe a bit longer than it takes to implement a global law on excessive carbon emissions?
- HighBar, on 06/27/2008, -1/+3I will be at the Friday night session. I can't wait to meet Aubrey and hear the latest on his ongoing work to defeating aging.
- TheMoniker, on 06/27/2008, -1/+3These changes won't be happening in a vacuum. The exponential gains that we are making in information technology and knowledge in virtually every field will very likely help us to feed the world's population.
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