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Ask Aubrey de Grey About Longevity Research
Posted by
timothy
on Wed Jul 09, 2008 02:50 PM
from the take-your-time-phrase-well dept.
from the take-your-time-phrase-well dept.
There may be such a thing as a conventional scientist -- but Aubrey de Grey is not one. Instead, biogerontologist de Grey has spent much of the last 20 years investigating the science of aging by considering the aging process as a multifaceted disease whose manifestations can be mitigated, rather than an inevitability to merely accept. That might not be unusual in itself, but de Grey believes that by addressing the causes and symptoms of aging, human life can be extended to at least 1000 years — a stance has earned him accolades and contempt in various degrees. (He might not especially mind being called names like "rogue" and "maverick," though.) De Grey is also chairman and chief science officer of The Methuselah Foundation, whose M-Prize for extending the lifespan of mice has been mentioned on Slashdot before. Ask de Grey about his research below; he'll answer the top-rated questions, and we'll publish them in this space. The usual Slashdot interview rules apply — so ask all the questions you'd like, but please confine yourself to one per post.
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Telomerase and aging (Score:5, Interesting)
From the studies I've looked at, and the differing oppinions of the popular media, there seems to be a lot of misconceptions on the effects (or lack thereof) of telomerase on aging. Could you give a brief discussion of that (and possibly other factors/nonfactors and relative importance)?
Straigh to the Point (Score:5, Insightful)
What tangible, confirmed success have you had in extending the lifespan of humans, if any?
Re:Straigh to the Point (Score:5, Funny)
On the individual scale, I have had 100% success, with 0 failures, at extending my own life each and every day.
Parent
Practical repurcussions (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Practical repurcussions (Score:5, Interesting)
Have you or anybody in your field considered that humans living that long would grossly exacerbate the current crisis concerning population and resources?
Have you considered the fact that humans who have longer lifespans tend to have lower birthrates? I'm not suggesting causation, of course, but I am pointing out the fact that birthrates decrease as poverty and disease are ameliorated.
Parent
Re:Practical repurcussions (Score:5, Insightful)
So let's say that you or some other scientist in the field figures out a way to actually get humans to live to 1000 years. Have you or anybody in your field considered that humans living that long would grossly exacerbate the current crisis concerning population and resources?
Even worst than that is the wide wealth disparity that it would create. Imagine a Citizen Kane or Bill Gates type who never has to stop amassing wealth. Life+70yrs for copyrights would also take on a new meaning. Imagine a 22 year old fresh out of school trying to compete for a job with a bored multizillionare with 25 PhDs who just wants a job (something to do) and doesn't need to get paid.
Parent
Re:Practical repurcussions (Score:5, Interesting)
Actually, he has. Extensively. Please browse any of his websites. There are many scientific discussions addressing this very topic.
My personal counter to your rather far-reaching question is "what's your cutoff?" We extend life each and every day with new medical advances. Indeed, our lifespans have already been doubled in the last couple of hundred years. Is 105 acceptable to you? Too old? Should I not get my yearly flu vaccine because that may extend my life?
Civilization adapts. I want the choice. Do some research on the debate of longevity. After you do, please come back and tell me how old I should be allowed to live to and then we can have a different discussion.
Parent
If we stop aging... (Score:5, Interesting)
Has any research been done on how extreme longevity affects a person psychologically?
"My attitude..." (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Dorian? (Score:5, Funny)
What Have we Learned so far? (Score:5, Interesting)
Most people understand that parts of biological life break-down over time for various reasons, mostly environmental. What have we learned so far about humans, for example, and why cell death occurs?(Setting aside environmental causes like cancer, virii, toxins, etc.) If you had 60 secs to get a college student excited about wanting to study and research life extension, what would you say besides the obvious 'live-forever' meme?
Economics of Anti-Aging (Score:5, Insightful)
Most people are very afraid of dying, and would spend almost any amount of money to live longer. Anyone promising to help them do so can extract nearly limitless quantities of money from people. Given that, why should we believe you aren't a complete charlatan?
Re:Economics of Anti-Aging (Score:5, Insightful)
Because he has the same overpowering incentive to do the work that investors would have to invest in it?
Because he's dedicated his life to longevity research and made many breakthroughs in the field?
Why in the world would you propose someone is a charlatan when they in fact have dedicated massive (and to some degree, successful) effort to the cause you're proposing they're being fraudulent about?
Parent
Re:Economics of Anti-Aging (Score:5, Insightful)
He never achieved his PhD in any conventional sense. He studied computer science as an undergrad at Cambridge. His bio, the way he touts himself, makes it appear he earned a PhD in biology from Cambridge, which he did not. He is not associated with Cambridge in any way, yet he weasel words things to make it easy for people to misinterpret his association with them. There are good reasons to believe he is a charlatan.
Parent
Social/Societal Implactions of extreme longevity (Score:5, Interesting)
Do you or your organization research the societal implications of extreme long life? How will our cultures, society, and laws, and families/family structures have to change to accommodate long life? Are we ready for it?
1000 years? (Score:5, Interesting)
Given that the most promising research to-date on life-extension (resveratrol and caloric restriction) can produce about a 40% increase in maximum lifespan at best, how do you estimate that we can achieve a lifespan of 1,000 years (about a 10-fold increase in current maximum lifespans)?
What about the insurmountable problems? (Score:5, Interesting)
Given such limitations, do you still consider near-immortality as a realistic possibility, or will we merely see a continuation of the current trend of higher functionality up the extreme natural limit to our lifespans (110 to 120 years), at which point people simply die of nothing?
Human Fertility (Score:5, Interesting)
Also, would a child not encounter puberty until age 130?
Surely you've been asked the overpopulation question before, what is your response?
How to Deal With the Memories? (Score:5, Interesting)
Let's say we can live for 400, 600, 1000 years. How will we cope with all those centuries of memories? Even people nearing a century often (usually?) can't cope with that much info about themselves. Their personalities are often severly constrained, or at least exclude quite a bit of who they were 3/4 of a century ago. Is perhaps some of that limitation not merely "hardware", which your research targets, but also our "software", the way we integrate experiences into our personality and worldview?
Across 1000 years, a lot of those experiences are going to conflict, made as they are out of the human condition. How do we keep our minds together as well as your medicine proposes to maintain our bodies?
Myself, I drink to forget. Maintaining a window of clarity here towards the end, at the expense of a murky past I can't recall, is my own contribution to your grand project. Here's mud in yer eye!
A personal question, perhaps, but relevant: (Score:5, Interesting)
What system of philosophy do you subscribe to that drives you to discover such things? Is it just the desire to see man taken to his highest potential, or is it something deeper?
Stagnant Aging vs. Constant Aging (Score:5, Interesting)
If the average human lifespan were extended to 1000, would the average human age at a normal speed (i.e., like now), then hit a certain specific age and remain at that age until the end (everlasting youth), or would the aging be constant?
Beard required? (Score:5, Funny)
What can we do NOW? (Score:5, Interesting)
If I gave you a lab rat today, how long could you extend his life?
What about me - is there anything I can do (other than a healthy lifestyle), or could have done, today, to start extending my life?
How long before the answers to either of these questions change significantly? 5 years? 10? 20?
Longevity Plan (Score:5, Insightful)
In your opinion, if I wanted to give my best effort to extending the number of years I'm alive, what would be the top things I should do?
I'll let you decide how many things to include.
Thank you
Gary
I'll Bite... (Score:5, Interesting)
1. elastin.. It's not alive, it doesnt regenerate. and even if replaced in a full sized organism, it would already be "loose" because it tightens as we grow, and eventually breaks down.. How do you replace this substance throughout the body? (I'm hoping this covers a bunch of the other materials of the same type)
2. degradation of cell function.. as mutations occur in cells, the functional protiens become non-functional.. while these arent cancerous, they are problematic as they're just hobos in the body. to stop this would require freakloads of genetic therapy, rather than the smaller amount needed to repair cancer.
3. Overcoming telomerase,, so does it get nuked by your gene therapy, or are the stem cells engineered to full length only..
4. How do you keep the protein digesting enzymes needed for removing garbage from inside cells from eating barr bodies and other useful proteins that would normally inhabit and possibly pollute a cell.
5. How do you prevent damage to someone who has 2 copies of a gene that are both useful (the two having a broader functional range than any known single gene) from getting your genericized version at both? wiping out the advantage.
6. How do you keep the memories from fading to nothing?
Thanks,
Storm