Ps2Huang Posted May 4, 2005 Report Share Posted May 4, 2005 A scientish in Boston said they will try to extend humen life by some biological research. And within 30 years, we are likely to live 200 by average. Do you think it is occurable in a few decades? Also I remember that there should be a medicine sold this year that if we eat it per day, our life will be long. The information of this is brought 2 years ago. Saw it on New while I was in Taiwan.And when I was websurfing yahoo a while ago, some scientists of Mosco are trying to break the code of agin that humen are likely to live to 1'000 within 15 years.Do you guys have thoughts? By the way, California has invested an amount of money into reseraching of sterm cell last December, is that right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffy Posted May 4, 2005 Report Share Posted May 4, 2005 I've got some great vacation property and a bridge or two to sell you! How about some Viagra? Oh and if you'll just give me your bank account number and social security number I'll wire you $10,000,000! Seriously, major genetic changes to our DNA will be required to significantly change life spans. Unless a miracle occurs with gene therapy (and right now it seems to be killing people a good chunk of the time they try it), it will be your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandkids who live to be 200. Cheers,Buffy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C1ay Posted May 4, 2005 Report Share Posted May 4, 2005 I think I read an article somewhere by Raymond Kurzweil where he claimed we only have to live another 20 years for technology to get to a point that we can live forever. Who knows? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffy Posted May 4, 2005 Report Share Posted May 4, 2005 Ray's a brilliant guy, but I think he's getting out a bit ahead of his headlights. He's been so successful that some say he's gotten to start thinking he can do anything. Biz folks think he's just been really good at selling at the height of the hype for his inventions, that then muddle or crash.... Cheers,Buffy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C1ay Posted May 4, 2005 Report Share Posted May 4, 2005 Ray's a brilliant guy, but I think he's getting out a bit ahead of his headlights. He's been so successful that some say he's gotten to start thinking he can do anything. Biz folks think he's just been really good at selling at the height of the hype for his inventions, that then muddle or crash.... Cheers,BuffyI think this article was probably a way to get some press so some of his books might sell. I'm certainly not going to buy any bonds that mature in a hundred years based on his predictions :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ps2Huang Posted May 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2005 I don't know why there are so many pessimism!Living forever seems to be a fantastic dream to humen. And if we are able to, why not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffy Posted May 4, 2005 Report Share Posted May 4, 2005 I don't know why there are so many pessimism!Living forever seems to be a fantastic dream to humen. And if we are able to, why not.One of the key downsides of "living forever" is the sound of the population bomb going off. Even with current lifespans, the world will double its population in the next 10-15 years. If lifespans are expanded, we will have 100 billion people squeezed onto the planet in less that 50 years. Not to be totally Malthusian about it, but how the heck are you going to feed these people and provide the gas for all their Hummers? Cheers,Buffy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tormod Posted May 4, 2005 Report Share Posted May 4, 2005 I don't know why there are so many pessimism!Living forever seems to be a fantastic dream to humen. And if we are able to, why not. Not pessimisim...realism. And not everyone wants to live forever. And think for a second - if it was possible to treat a human being so he/she could live forever, how would we choose which people get the treatment? Excactly - those able to pay for it. So it would be eternal life for the rich. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biochemist Posted May 4, 2005 Report Share Posted May 4, 2005 ...Seriously, major genetic changes to our DNA will be required to significantly change life spans. Unless a miracle occurs with gene therapy (and right now it seems to be killing people a good chunk of the time they try it), it will be your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandkids who live to be 200.Buff is correct on this. The human life span is about 95 years, and has been as long as we have been (roughly) measuring it. As life expectancy increases (through better nutrition and medical intervention) all we are doing is rectangularizing the curve toward a mean life span of about 95. We are programmed for cell death, and that genetic programming is both pervasive and complicated. It will be a long time before we can selectively alter enough of the cell-death machinery to substantively extend our life spans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ps2Huang Posted May 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2005 Not pessimisim...realism. And not everyone wants to live forever. And think for a second - if it was possible to treat a human being so he/she could live forever, how would we choose which people get the treatment? Excactly - those able to pay for it. So it would be eternal life for the rich.Real my ***. If you are a realism of biology of current life of 21st century, you should know with the explosive improvement of our technology, it is pretty soon to make humen life longer and longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumab Posted May 4, 2005 Report Share Posted May 4, 2005 We are programmed for cell death, and that genetic programming is both pervasive and complicated. It will be a long time before we can selectively alter enough of the cell-death machinery to substantively extend our life spans. Well, its' not overly complicated. The reason we all inevitably experience cell death is DNA replication cuts off a little snip of DNA everytime, meaning our DNA gets shorter everytime our cells divide. That problem is avoided by the addition of a string of A bases at the end of the DNA- telomers. We can lose those no problem, they code for nothing. But there's a limited amount, so at about age 95 (i think) we start cutting into coding DNA everytime our cells divide. That kills us off right quick. There are molocules which will add onto the telomers on our DNA, thus completely fixing the problem- while we lose DNA everytime it replicates, those A bases get stuck back on. The problem is when cells get this ability, they are usually cancerous. In fact, several strains of cancer cells that research is currently being done on are essentially immortal, they replicate over and over, never experiencing cell death. So the power to live forever really is pretty much in hand (as far as that issue goes), we just can't control it. But anyway, it's a terrible idea. The earth couldn't handle it, thus, we couldn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ps2Huang Posted May 5, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 Even the earth cannot handle that many people. Rich people deserve to stay. You got money, you can buy something for living, and deserving to be alive and so on forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bumab Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 What a noble perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffy Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 Even the earth cannot handle that many people. Rich people deserve to stay. You got money, you can buy something for living, and deserving to be alive and so on forever.Sounds like a pretty good justification for eugenics... Zieg Heil!Buffy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishteacher73 Posted May 5, 2005 Report Share Posted May 5, 2005 You could set up a system for "showers" for the poor...Kinda like soup kitchens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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