The Prophet of Immortality

Posted October 4, 2007, 12:14 pm by Growing Bolder


"In this world, nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."

Strike death from the famous Ben Franklin quote. It's no longer certain. At least that's what the so-called Prophet of Immortality says.

Dr. Aubrey de Grey is a biomedical gerontologist in the genetics department at the University of Cambridge in England who believes -- are you sitting down -- that aging is a curable disease and the first person to live to 1,000 might be 60 today.

The doctor has identified seven things (mostly toxic byproducts of metabolism) that need to be prevented in order to bioengineer a human that doesn't age. His plan involves periodic repairs using stem cells, gene therapy and other technologies that already exist.

De Grey says each tune-up will last about 30 years and science will advance enough by the next "scheduled service" so that death can be put off indefinitely.

While de Grey is more than a little outside the box when it comes to generally accepted scientific opinion, a growing number of scientists now believe dramatically slowing the aging process is just a matter of time and not much of it. You'd be hard pressed to find any scientist who doesn't agree that we are at the beginning of a longevity revolution.



© 2007-2008. The Growing Bolder Media Group. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.