Who Wants to Live Forever?
- Michael Butler
- Aug 4, 2023
- 4 min read
A Microbiology Professor Believes that Humans May Have the Capacity to Live for Thousands of Years
According to a recent article in Popular Mechanics professor of molecular biogerontology João Pedro de Magalhães believes that humans will one day live to be 1,000 if not 20,000 years old.
Of course, there's a big if...there's always a big IF.
Humans will have to come up with some new sort of technology that can reprogram our cells on a genetic level.
Magalhães, who works at the Institute of Inflammation and Ageing at the University of Birmingham in England believes that the way for humanity to achieve this near immortality is to eliminate aging by repairing our DNA and reprogramming the way that our cells handle the aging process, by essentially stopping it altogether.
“My hypothesis is that we have a very complicated set of computerlike programs in our DNA that turn us into an adult human being,” he said in an article for Scientific American. “But maybe some of these same programs, as they continue into later life, become detrimental.”
He looks at species such as the naked mole rat, which can live for up to 30 years, while most other species of rat only live for 4 years. They are also very cancer resistant, which is another big hurdle to overcome if humans were to live well past our current standard lifespan.
Another interesting aspect to the article is his mention of the compound rapamycin (also known as sirolimus), which has been used to extend the lifespan of other lab animals by 10-15%. The compound made headlines just a few months prior as tests have begun to see if it can increase the lifespan of pet dogs.
Rapamycin is currently used for transplant recipients as an immunosuppressant, but it will most likely be a while before you can buy it over the shelf or have your doctor prescribe it for you (unless your super wealthy I'm sure). Rapamycin comes with quite a few adverse side effects of its own at the moment.
But even this drug can't get us to the 1,000 or 20,000 year range. I mean, we're talking living to a time past anything seen in most science fiction...even Dune takes place in the 10,000's as does The Foundation! This is going to take more than a pill (though Magalhães believes we will one day have a daily pill, like we do for cholesterol), but a complete reworking of the very building blocks of what makes us what we are.
Professor Magalhães believes that aging is simply a "software problem". Our bodies are able to live (by his calculations) up to 20,000 years barring violent or accidental death, but our DNA is programmed against us to make us age. He points to the Thymus which bolsters the immune system in the young, but around age 20 disappears and turns to fat. Testing in lab mice has shown that scientists can regenerate that thymus.
When can we start rewriting our DNA to help us reverse the aging process and stop cancers? Don't get your hopes up. Professor Magalhães doesn't believe that this will happen for 100 or even 1,000 years, as even if we can fully understand the aging process we would need to develop some incredible tools that will allow us to change our genetic makeup.
I don't know if I agree with it taking 1,000 years. The last 100 years has seen huge leaps in technology and innovation; especially in the field of medicine. With the rise of quantum computing and AI helping medical scientists and doctors come up with new medicines already, along with already created medical technologies like the CRISPR, which can already assist in gene editing. Pair all this with research into nanotechnology (which I'm sure we'll get into at some point) we may sooner rather than later be able to journey to the building blocks of our bodies and stop or reverse aging.
Of course, this brings up a big question; one of great philosophical and religious ruminations. Just because you can stop the aging process and live forever...should you. If humanity (and in fact) all live, were created or evolved based on the design of someone or something for a purpose, who are we to play "God". This is a debate that has been had for time immemorial. The discussions of many scholars, philosophers, and theologians. It has even been the focus of much of our stories and pop culture: The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dracula along with most vampire stories, Doctor Who, and of course the 1986 film Highlander, where the single from the film by Queen posited the question "Who Wants to Live Forever?"
Personally, I do! I'm sure there are many on the TotR team and even readers who may disagree. What purpose does it serve to die tomorrow or in 20,000 years. As many have said before me, "what matters with the time you have left is what you do with it" and oh what incredible things could one do with that amount of time! The things you could learn, the places you could visit, the experiences you would have. Once you shuffle off this mortal plane, that's it, at least here, as you, in your body. Very few, if any in the realms of science, religion, or philosophy debate that. Other than a recent quantum theory on death, you are YOU and HERE only once, so why not stay here and experience all there is for as long as you can? You've got plenty of time to experience the hereafter...after. I for one want to see the story of Humanity and the Universe play out for as long as possible and continue to play my small part in it.
"Speak for yourself sir, I plan to live forever." - Cmdr William T. Riker