Immortality

[Frostbite]

So I read a couple articles in the past few years about the technicalities of immortality. Something about reversing the gene degradation process during cell division and keeping the cell division "counter" from running out. Anyone been keeping track with that field of research?

 

[Agammamon]

Its getting closer all the time. Those who like to analyse tech curves show that lifespans have been increasing by about 2 years every decade, but that rate of increase is increasing leading to a 10yr increase every ten years (the point where immortality is realized) at around mid century, give or take a couple of decades.

Of course that could be derailed by the bioethicists and tech scaremongers that keep getting government appointments.

 

[Soapy Sam]

Richard Dawkins suggested (tongue somewhat in cheek) that we could extend average human life span by only allowing people over a certain age (say 35) to breed. On average, only people who do not carry genes apt to prove lethal in early middle age would have kids. The next generation would not be allowed to breed before forty, and so on. Eventually you would have a breeding population (probably via a narrow population bottleneck) of people purged of early and mid life lethal genetic variants, who were fertile into their later years. No biotech required.
Nb. I'm paraphrasing and taking what he said out of context. He was not proposing the idea, just discussing an implicaion of genetic theory.
I believe the experiment has been tried with fruit flies and has resulted in major lifespan lengthening, but I can't see it catching on with humans.

 

[K-W]

Richard Dawkins suggested (tongue somewhat in cheek) that we could extend average human life span by only allowing people over a certain age (say 35) to breed. On average, only people who do not carry genes apt to prove lethal in early middle age would have kids. The next generation would not be allowed to breed before forty, and so on. Eventually you would have a breeding population (probably via a narrow population bottleneck) of people purged of early and mid life lethal genetic variants, who were fertile into their later years. No biotech required.
Nb. I'm paraphrasing and taking what he said out of context. He was not proposing the idea, just discussing an implicaion of genetic theory.
I believe the experiment has been tried with fruit flies and has resulted in major lifespan lengthening, but I can't see it catching on with humans.

Yah, good luck keeping teenagers from procreating

 

[EdipisReks]

Richard Dawkins suggested (tongue somewhat in cheek) that we could extend average human life span by only allowing people over a certain age (say 35) to breed. On average, only people who do not carry genes apt to prove lethal in early middle age would have kids. The next generation would not be allowed to breed before forty, and so on. Eventually you would have a breeding population (probably via a narrow population bottleneck) of people purged of early and mid life lethal genetic variants, who were fertile into their later years. No biotech required.
Nb. I'm paraphrasing and taking what he said out of context. He was not proposing the idea, just discussing an implicaion of genetic theory.
I believe the experiment has been tried with fruit flies and has resulted in major lifespan lengthening, but I can't see it catching on with humans.

why bother with all that? self-replictating nano -machines shouldn't be too terribly far in the future, if Ray Kurzweil is right. once that happens, everyone gets to be immortal (if they can afford it and if nano doesn't get banned by uncreative politicians).