Forever Young? The 5000 year lifespan
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You might have used his payment system to buy and sell goods over the internet.
Now PayPal founder Peter Thiel may be about to repay the favour - by helping to add decades to your lifespan.
The American multi-millionaire has become the latest benefactor of the Methuselah Foundation, a US-based body promoting research into radically extending human lifespans and reversing ageing.
The foundation funds projects including a cash prize for the scientistific team who can bring about the greatest rise in the lifespan of laboratory mice.
Its controversial founder Aubrey de Grey claims ultimately the human lifespan may be extended to 5000 years and beyond.
In a release this week Thiel revealed he had agreed to pump up to US$3.5 million into the foundation in payments up until 2009. The money is to be used to "support scientific research into the alleviation and eventual reversal of the debilities caused by ageing."
Better nutrition, health practices and medical intervention have significantly increased the average human lifespan over the past 150 years. Australian men can now look forward to living to about 78 while women can expect an innings of about 83 years.
But de Grey, an academic who studies ageing at Cambridge University, argues this is just the tip of the iceberg.
He believes there are seven main causes of ageing and by combatting them people could eventually live thousands of years. The causes include the degeneration of cells, gene mutations and mutations to mitochondria inside cells.
According to de Grey because scientific developments combating ageing are rapidly being developed people living today could enjoy extremely long lifespans.
He argues if an individual can stay alive another 30 years there are likely to be new technologies available to extend their life.
The extra years the individual gains may be enough to keep them alive another 30 years to take advantage of the next round of life extending technologies, and so on.
The views of de Grey are disputed by many ageing experts who believe much more modest gains in life expectancy are more likely.
However Thiel said: "Rapid advances in biological science foretell of a treasure trove of discoveries this century, including dramatically improved health and longevity for all.
"I'm backing Dr. de Grey, because I believe that his revolutionary approach to ageing research will accelerate this process, allowing many people alive today to enjoy radically longer and healthier lives for themselves and their loved ones."
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The promise of extra years of life is an attractive one.
It would mean more time to spend with friends, to enjoy life and better get to know oneself.
What do you think?
How far can we extend our lifespans?
Nice to see some discussion in Australia about it, and awareness is always good.
Original Blog
Anyway, I've posted a comment there, including the URL for here.
