In this post I will list some particular developments in the sciences which serve as reasons for optimism that the vanquishing of aging and death may be on our horizon.
1. Gene editing can revert adult cells to embryoniclike ones.
This has lent credence to the belief among some scientists that aging is governed by epigenetic changes, and therefore it is something malleable and not 'hard-coded' into our being. Similarly, transfusion of blood itself from younger to older lifeforms can produce age-reversing effects (also known as ‘parabiosis’, a procedure which will be further elaborated upon later).
Cellular youth and the continued rejuvenation of all our organic components appear to be one of the pillars of combatting death. Our limited lifespans can only be prolonged if change occurs ‘from the ground up’ — that is to say that superficial youthfulness might come only as an expression of our youth on a base biological level.
2. Collagen can prevent the effects of aging upon the skin.
Stem cells are what allow skin to rejuvenate, and their depletion over time will eventually curtail that process. The body normally expels damaged stem cells and replaces them with healthy ones, but eventually a tipping point will be reached wherein damaged stem cells outnumber healthy ones and the expulsion can no longer take place. Increased levels of collagen 17 within stem cells can strengthen the bond which keeps them attached. Though no product yet exists which can achieve this, these relatively recent findings could be a future route towards it.
3. There is natural precedent for the absence of any visible aging process.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydra_(genus) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_dohrnii
4. Early research indicates that hyperbaric oxygen treatment can extend telomeres and reverse the aging of blood cells.
“...a unique protocol of treatments with high-pressure oxygen in a pressure chamber can reverse two major processes associated with aging and its illnesses: the shortening of telomeres (protective regions located at both ends of every chromosome) and the accumulation of old and malfunctioning cells in the body. Focusing on immune cells containing DNA obtained from the participants' blood, the study discovered a lengthening of up to 38% of the telomeres, as well as a decrease of up to 37% in the presence of senescent cells.” [Source]
Most medical decisions made in a lifetime are oriented toward a single objective: extension of life (or prevention of death, depending on your point of view). The improvement of life quality is taken into consideration oftentimes; but the latter usually leads to the former, in the end.
Why should we not take this mindset to its obvious conclusion? That oft-spurned conclusion is: “I don’t want to ever die”. We are discouraged from it — in no uncertain terms — by everything from television series to the church. We are informed that this is not something we should want. When it comes to mortality, we’re told to ‘accept it’ and ‘come to terms with it’.
In any given piece of media, immortality is treated as a gluttonous desire. Inevitably it will result in a sort of eternal limbo or living hell for any character whose wish is granted.
Here is a rather random example, but one which has stood out to me: In the show Picard, Data opines in his ‘farewell episode’ that to live a finite life to its conclusion is the most human experience one could have. In a later(?) episode, Picard had his terminal brain condition repaired by having his consciousness transplanted to a machine body. Once he is brought to, he expresses concern to his saviours that the process may have rendered him functionally immune to the effects of aging (and therefore impervious to death by old age). He is reassured that his lifespan remains that of a normal human being’s — minus the brain condition that was before going to end his life prematurely.
What’s the difference?
What is it, exactly, which makes one cause of death ‘untimely’ and the other just nature taking its course? The answer: absolutely nothing whatsoever. It’s an arbitrary distinction to which is sacred to us.
Do you think aging is ‘beautiful’? Do you look forward to growing old with someone? Your ‘golden years’? Go to any nursing home and you’ll see little in the way of beauty; just a terrifying peep into a telescope pointed toward your own potential future. Tick, tick, tick.
As the young patient wastes away deprived of the proper care for their ailment, so does the old-timer in palliative care. They’re both afflicted by something which a moral civilization would strive to cure. Disease is disease, however ancient and fundamental to our philosophy its normalization may be.
