Companies like Google are now investing millions of dollars into the research of eternal life. Along with the breakthroughs, scientists have also come across some challenges, as well.
Immortality has fascinated people for thousands of years. The perspective of living forever has had such a strong case against the fear of dying that people have been looking for an elixir or a remedy to prolong life for many centuries.
The Physicist wants to share with you what’s going on in science in the search for immortality and would like to present to you an outlook on the possibility of living forever.
Ongoing research
The idea of immortality is so captivating that modern science and medicine may bring us as close to discovering a solution as ever.
For example, at Northwestern University in the US, scientists learned to turn off the “genetic switch” that causes aging, however, not in humans yet, but in worms. Of course, it’s a huge step from worms to humans, but this technique is already an important achievement.
Another achievement was to revive old mice by infusing blood from young mice. Researchers think this procedure could also work on humans.
Silicon Valley is also involved in this science, and we have some big names standing behind the research.
A great amount of money is being put forward for immortality research, and there are many celebrities who are involved in the contribution:
- Larry Ellison: one of the five richest men on Earth and one of the owners of Oracle.
- Sergey Brin: co-founder of Google and the Calico foundation, which focuses on health, well-being, and longevity.
- Aubrey de Grey: a scientist and a researcher; the founder of numerous studies on regenerative medicine.
These famous people confessed that they’re afraid of aging and death and they’re now investing in finding remedies against this seemingly “inevitable” outcome.
7 Deadly SENS
Scientist and author of Ending Aging (2007), Aubrey de Grey, is working on strategies to exclude death from our genes. He is currently working on the “7 deadly SENS” — things that cause aging on a cellular level," and they are:
- Nuclear Mutations/Epimutations: mutations that can lead to cancer.
- Mitochondrial Mutations: components in our cells that are important for energy production.
- Intracellular Junk: proteins that are not properly “digested” by our cells.
- Extracellular Junk: proteins accumulated outside the cells. For example, in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.
- Cell Loss: cells that can’t be regenerated by the body itself.
- Cell Senescence: when cells lose the ability to divide.
- Extracellular Crosslinks: cause the loss of elasticity in cells and tissues.
Modern science on immortality and 5 ways to achieve it:
The idea of immortality is captivating to this day and we have a ton of science fiction to imagine how it can turn out — movies, TV shows, books, and scientific articles provide an incredible amount of information. To quote Wolfgang Fink, a researcher from the University of Arizona, “I would see immortality coming from the biological sector.” He also says, “By preventing cell death and aging, preserving it through cryogenic methods or donors, we can prolong their natural lifespan.”Here are the five ways scientists believe to be able to achieve immortality:
- Unlocking the gene power: by cracking the mysteries of genes, scientists may be able to find an “immortality gene” and “implant” it.
- Cloning: parts of the body for replacement or a whole human being. Cloning is believed to be a branch of immortality studies and it is the most evolved one.
- Cryogenics: it’s more the science of preserving the organism, it may help people “fall into cryogenic sleep” until the cure to their disease is found.
- Cyber brain: your body may perish, yet your mind can be uploaded to a hard drive and remain ageless. Its main “player” is a project called Russia-2045, which claims to be able to do this in just 17 years.
- Cellular repairs: nanotechnology is evolving as well, so it’s possible that all of our bodily modifications andtreatments will soon be done by nanorobots. They may even be able to replace dying cells with newer ones or cure them altogether.
Eternal life through meditation?
While what scientists are dealing with still reminds us more of science fiction, let’s get back to what’s happening on Earth.
Ever heard of Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov? He was a Buryat Buddhist lama, born in 1852. And he is still believed to be in a meditative state, rather than dead. It is all due to the way he passed away. He recommended his fellow monks to start the process of meditation and the funeral rites while he sat in the lotus position, claiming he would soon pass away. He never “woke up” from this meditation and to this day he remains in the lotus position and seems to remain immune from any signs of decay. People believe he is in a state of hibernation or a nirvana-like state.
Well, maybe meditation won’t provide eternal life to all of us, but some of the benefits of meditation are:
- A release of endorphins
- Stress reduction
- Sleep improvement
- Pain relief
- Lowering of blood pressure
All of the above can have a positive effect on the longevity of your life.
Biohackers have a different approach to the matter of longevity. They use their knowledge of neuromediators and genes to prolong their lives and to improve their body performance.
The centenarians
Over the years, several men and women have achieved a long lifespan. Here are some of them:
Jeanne Calment (1875-1997), lived for 122 years and 164 days.
Shigechiyo Izumi (1865-1986), lived for 120 years and 237 days.
Sarah DeRemer (Clark) Knauss (1880-1999), lived for 119 years and 97 days.
Lucy (Terrell) Hannah (1875-1993), lived for 117 years and 248 days.
Marie Louse Febronie (Chasse) Meilleur (1880-1998), lived for 117 years and 230 days.
Some of such centenarians who are now alive are vegetarians, some eat a lot of meat and drink wine, some are smokers, many love chocolate, and many don’t like to exercise. But what they do have in common is that they are generally happy and easy-going. And we think it’s something to stick to while the scientists are busy trying to unlock the secret to immortality.
What do you think will happen in the future in this field? Do you believe science can really make people live forever? We’d love to hear your opinion in the comments!
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