I went to see a talk on aging a couple of weeks ago. And then another one on the same subject last week. Now, I’m not particularly worried about getting old yet, but my fast approaching birthday and the latest wrinkles, should definitely give me something to think about.
The most interesting seminar was given by Aubrey de Grey from Cambridge University. An eccentric, but entertaining guy. He’s got a long beard that would make da Vinci look like an amateur.
He claims that medical science has advanced so much that we are now within 20 to 30 years from tackling aging and seriously expanding our lifespan.
To put it simple, he says that our metabolism, ongoingly causes damage to our cells. This damage slowly accumulates to the point that it becomes pathological and we get all the age related diseases.
So what can we do? Well, we can try to understand and solve the metabolism problem (apparently too complicated), or ameliorate the pathological effects (a bit too late). Or we can do what he says. Remove this “damage” before it becomes pathological.
At this point the story becomes a bit technical, but the point is that seven different types of damage have been indentified. Now all we need to do is find out how to remove some of this damage. Once we do it, that’s the breakthrough and it will be just a matter of time before we improve the techniques and remove even more of this damage.
He calls this a maintenance approach. A car can virtually run for ever if it’s well looked after.
And now here comes the interesting part (with numbers and graphs). Let’s say we develop the first anti-damage, anti-aging, rejuvenation technique (or whatever you want to call it). Let’s say this fixes half the damage already accumulated. If we give the treatment to someone who’s sixty, although chronologically their age will be 60, physiologically, they will be more like 30. This means that they will live another relatively care free life for another 30 years. This is good news, because it will buy us time. Time to improve the techniques and repair a bit more damage. And if the rejuvenation therapies improve faster than the accumulation of irreparable damage, then, this means just one thing: a very very long lifespan. (see the graph below)
The most interesting seminar was given by Aubrey de Grey from Cambridge University. An eccentric, but entertaining guy. He’s got a long beard that would make da Vinci look like an amateur.
He claims that medical science has advanced so much that we are now within 20 to 30 years from tackling aging and seriously expanding our lifespan.
To put it simple, he says that our metabolism, ongoingly causes damage to our cells. This damage slowly accumulates to the point that it becomes pathological and we get all the age related diseases.
So what can we do? Well, we can try to understand and solve the metabolism problem (apparently too complicated), or ameliorate the pathological effects (a bit too late). Or we can do what he says. Remove this “damage” before it becomes pathological.
At this point the story becomes a bit technical, but the point is that seven different types of damage have been indentified. Now all we need to do is find out how to remove some of this damage. Once we do it, that’s the breakthrough and it will be just a matter of time before we improve the techniques and remove even more of this damage.
He calls this a maintenance approach. A car can virtually run for ever if it’s well looked after.
And now here comes the interesting part (with numbers and graphs). Let’s say we develop the first anti-damage, anti-aging, rejuvenation technique (or whatever you want to call it). Let’s say this fixes half the damage already accumulated. If we give the treatment to someone who’s sixty, although chronologically their age will be 60, physiologically, they will be more like 30. This means that they will live another relatively care free life for another 30 years. This is good news, because it will buy us time. Time to improve the techniques and repair a bit more damage. And if the rejuvenation therapies improve faster than the accumulation of irreparable damage, then, this means just one thing: a very very long lifespan. (see the graph below)
De Grey calculated the Longevity Escape Velocity (how fast these techniques must improve). The graph below assumes therapies double efficiency every 42 years. Some lucky people seem to be living indefinitely…
One odd thing from this graph is that first 1000-year-old is less than 20 years younger than the first 150-year-old.
Now probably de Grey has gone a bit over the top with his ideas. He’s 46 and he thinks if he’s lucky he might just get the first treatment. Some people think he’s mad. But if he is, he’s definitely not alone. He works for a foundation that sponsors age related research. And as I found out there are more and more scientists who think we can get our bodies to work a bit longer. Maybe not 1000 but at least 100 -150 years. De Grey however, is much more optimistic. He strongly believes the first 1000-year-old is alive today!
At the end of the talk there was a storm of questions, but one in particular is worth mentioning.
“ – Dr de Grey, as you know, our ears and noses keep on growing throughout our lives. How do you think a 1000-year-old would look like?”
“ – ?!??!!?!!”
“ – An elephant?”
One odd thing from this graph is that first 1000-year-old is less than 20 years younger than the first 150-year-old.
Now probably de Grey has gone a bit over the top with his ideas. He’s 46 and he thinks if he’s lucky he might just get the first treatment. Some people think he’s mad. But if he is, he’s definitely not alone. He works for a foundation that sponsors age related research. And as I found out there are more and more scientists who think we can get our bodies to work a bit longer. Maybe not 1000 but at least 100 -150 years. De Grey however, is much more optimistic. He strongly believes the first 1000-year-old is alive today!
At the end of the talk there was a storm of questions, but one in particular is worth mentioning.
“ – Dr de Grey, as you know, our ears and noses keep on growing throughout our lives. How do you think a 1000-year-old would look like?”
“ – ?!??!!?!!”
“ – An elephant?”
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