In light of rapid gains in gene editing, nanotechnology, and robotics, some futurists expect this generation's biohackers to double their life spans. Aubrey de Grey, a regenerative medicine researcher backed by tech mogul Peter Thiel, insists that someone alive today will live to be 1,000. "It's extraordinary to me that it's such an incendiary claim," de Grey says.
But how could this be achieved? Harvard Medical School researchers believe they might know where to start. Humans grow fewer blood vessels in their muscles with age, which is believed to result in the gradual breakdown of vital organs. The same pattern exists in mice. In 2018, Harvard researchers fed mice a chemical to manipulate the gene associated with blood vessel growth and found that old mice subsequently were able to run on a treadmill 56 percent longer.
In fact, Harvard Medical School isn't the only prestigious name taking life span extension seriously. Bulletproof Coffee founder Dave Asprey, who recently turned 45, is certain he'll live to be at least 180. His reasoning behind such a claim is the fact that he has doctors extract stem cells from bone marrow and inject them into organs and joints throughout his body, a process Asprey intends to repeat twice annually in the belief he's refreshing his body with brand-new cells. Others such as Oracle's co-founder, Larry Ellison, says he finds mortality "incomprehensible," and Google's co-founders, along with Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, are also investing in ways to extend human life. Elon Musk founded Neuralink to develop digital implants for our brains. "If we don't use technology to enhance our cognitive abilities," Musk reasons, "artificial intelligence is destined to conquer humanity."
However, most scientists are either skeptical or firmly opposed to any effort that purports to reverse aging or extend human life spans indefinitely. University of Michigan professor Richard Miller wrote an article co-signed by 28 aging experts, who called de Grey's life-span goal "so far from plausible that it commands no respect at all within the informed scientific community."
Biohackers claim they are only accelerating evolution, but many ethicists believe something much graver is at stake. Political scientist Francis Fukuyama cited the transhumanist movement as among the most serious threats to humanity, not only because of the potentially disastrous consequences of botched treatments but also because of the equally alarming possibilities of success.
Considering how most people would choose to live longer in general, the idea of 'hacking' the human mortality seems to be gaining traction and frankly, it doesn't sound too bad. Albeit, life is extended to a reasonable age, but to consider extending life indefinitely, now that may be too much to ask.
