Is a 1000 year old human a possibility?
Sun, June 1, 2008 at 2:29 PM 
Can Humans Live to 1,000? Some Experts Claim We Can.
Cambridge University geneticist Aubrey de Grey has famously stated, “The first person to live to be 1,000 years old is certainly alive today …whether they realize it or not, barring accidents and suicide, most people now 40 years or younger can expect to live for centuries.”
Perhaps de Gray is way too optimistic, but plenty of others have joined the search for a virtual fountain of youth. In fact, a growing number of scientists, doctors, geneticists and nanotech experts—many with impeccable academic credentials—are insisting that there is no hard reason why ageing can’t be dramatically slowed or prevented altogether. Not only is it theoretically possible, they argue, but a scientifically achievable goal that can and should be reached in time to benefit those alive today.
“I am working on immortality,” says Michael Rose, a professor of evolutionary biology at the University of California, Irvine, who has achieved breakthrough results extending the lives of fruit flies. “Twenty years ago the idea of postponing aging, let alone reversing it, was weird and off-the-wall. Today there are good reasons for thinking it is fundamentally possible.”
Even the US government finds the field sufficiently promising to fund some of the research. Federal funding for “the biology of ageing”, excluding work on ageing-specific diseases like heart failure and cancer – has been running at about $2.4 billion a year, according to the National Institute of Ageing, part of the National Institutes of Health.
So far, the most intriguing results have been spawned by the genetics labs of bigger universities, where anti-ageing scientists have found ways to extend live spans of a range of organisms—including mammals. But genetic research is not the only field that may hold the key to eternity.
“There are many, many different components of ageing and we are chipping away at all of them,” said Robert Freitas at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing, a non-profit, nanotech group in Palo Alto, California. “It will take time and, if you put it in terms of the big developments of modern technology, say the telephone, we are still about 10 years off from Alexander Graham Bell shouting to his assistant through that first device. Still, in the near future, say the next two to four decades, the disease of ageing will be cured.”
But not everyone thinks ageing can or should be cured. Some say that humans weren’t meant to live forever, regardless of whether or not we actually can.
“I just don’t think [immortality] is possible,” says Sherwin Nuland, a professor of surgery at the Yale School of Medicine. “Aubrey and the others who talk of greatly extending lifespan are oversimplifying the science and just don’t understand the magnitude of the task. His plan will not succeed. Were it to do so, it would undermine what it means to be human.”
It’s interesting that Nuland first says he doesn’t think it will work but then adds that if it does, it will undermine humanity. So, which is it? Is it impossible, or are the skeptics just hoping it is?
After all, we already have overpopulation, global warming, limited resources and other issues to deal with, so why compound the problem by adding immortality into the mix.
But anti-ageing enthusiasts argue that as our perspectives change and science and technology advance exponentially, new solutions will emerge. Space colonization, for example, along with dramatically improved resource management, could resolve the concerns associated with long life. They reason that if the Universe goes on seemingly forever—much of it presumably unused—why not populate it?
However, anti-ageing crusaders are coming up against an increasingly influential alliance of bioconservatives who want to restrict research seeking to “unnaturally” prolong life. Some of these individuals were influential in persuading President Bush in 2001 to restrict federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. They oppose the idea of life extension and anti-ageing research on ethical, moral and ecological grounds.
Leon Kass, the former head of Bush’s Council on Bioethics, insists that “the finitude of human life is a blessing for every human individual”. Bioethicist Daniel Callahan of the Garrison, New York-based Hastings Centre, agrees: “There is no known social good coming from the conquest of death.”
Maybe they’re right, but then why do we as humans strive so hard to prolong our lives in the first place? Maybe growing old, getting sick and dying is just a natural, inevitable part of the circle of life, and we may as well accept it.
“But it’s not inevitable, that’s the point,” de Grey says. “At the moment, we’re stuck with this awful fatalism that we’re all going to get old and sick and die painful deaths. There are a 100,000 people dying each day from age-related diseases. We can stop this carnage. It’s simply a matter of deciding that’s what we should be doing.”
One wonders what Methuselah would say about all this.
Reader Comments (96)
That is really crazy to think we might live to be 1000 years! I think it is probably awhile to go, but it certainly is an interesting thought.
Oh man, I wouldn't want to live that long, and who would want to live that long? Reaching the age of 100 and up is already hard what more if you arrive at 1000 years of age. Well if scientist discover a solution to slow or even prevent aging, then if that time comes we need not to worry about those fine lines on the face or sagging of the skin. But I really wonder, can we prevent dying? Is Immortality possible? I cant imagine, and if that happens, we would be over populated and can you picture yourself at that age? So God has a good reason why Death exist..
This is a nice article, thanks for posting.
Regards,
-John Simon
Does one really want to live that long at all? Most of your body is going to have to be replaced over and over. Can you really do that much with that body. Its the body that breaks not just the mind.
Thanx You , Perfect Docs
Sounds a little too good to be true, but I sure hope I live that long!
Angela
nice article, but i want to be immortallity man, it is possible? hmm..
If the right-hand side of the picture is you in a thousand years I'd probably go for it. I think a 1000 years might be a tad optimistic, but when you look at the progress that is being made in polymers and genetics, life expectancy rates of 175 y seem realistic. Go science!
I think it is possible. Everyone thinks I'm 23 but I'm almost 31!
Here's my tip: Drink Green Tea, . . . all day! And read, The Picture of Dorian Grey
It is amazing to read this, 1,000 years old. Actually, I would still like to just live a normal life. 1,000 years old i think is too much. And if eveyone live to 1,000 years old then the earth would be 10 times as crowded. I cannot imagine that
I must say that it is a very interesting post!Each line of the article made me feel that I am really learning something interesting. Thank you for such an informative article!
Wow, it would be kinda weird to think you can live that long! Imagine all the things you would live to see!! I'm sure it won't happen anytime soon, but it is a very interesting concept!
I have to say agree I truly believe we have the capability to live a lot longer than the general 70-90 years, its all a case of whats in the mind and what you expect, but whether I think I would like to live that long I am not so sure!
Amazing! Now if we could just get some real go ahead on Stem Cell research, the possibilities would be endless. Thanks for this intriguing article. It really makes you think of how far we've come. It makes me wish I could live to be 1,000 to see it all unfold!
Human beings are not able to live to 1,000 years old? Technology may be made up to a certain extent it is possible to achieve, but people will be born by cloning a clone of his various organs, and when he's sick time will be able to exchange organs.
Congratulations on your blog.
Then one day, you could live forever!
I do not think is a good, perhaps is right that everyone is doing its natural course!
Greetings
I read that your body ageing isnt anything to do with the pyshical but all about the mental aspect as in you can control how long you live with your mind.
But would people want to live for 1000 years. People have had enough when they get to the age of 70, the stressful years start getting to them. Can you imagine if they got to 500 they would be so depressed.
I'm a lover of the immortality idea. But the fact is that's not so simple. Our genes have complex ways of making sure that you are going to die after you have completed your genetic tasks. You have to fight against that.
Honestly, I don't expect these scientists will succeed. The Bible says that after Noah's flood "the LORD said, My Spirit shall not strive[a] with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years." I believe the Bible to be absolutely true. Based on that verse, it seems that God does not intend for humans to have an average lifespan of over 120 years. I don't suppose that means that some people couldn't live to be very old, but on average, I don't think humans will live longer than that.
Thoughts?
Amazing to think we could live that long. I love life but I am not sure that a 1,000 years of life is something I would hope for. My great grandmother lived to 107 and she always said it was horrible seeing everything she did in her lifetime!
I don't think that a 1000 year old man is possible even thought there are many scientific supports added to this.
great blog post, enjoyed my time here
I think it is possible to live to be a 1000 years old. What seems impossible to me is that we cannot. There is nothing truly stopping us except we have been told all of our lives that we will eventually die. If human physiology is controlled 40 or 50% by psychology, i would think being told your entire life that you will not live for ever would be a slf fulfilling prophecy.
I wanna live to 1000, what can I do?
Is anyone concerned that at some point the government will be forced to control the amount of children we have due to overpopulation? It sounds horrible to us today but as we extend our lives and continue to grow our polulation we will have a big problem down the line.