Do You Want To Live Forever?

  Life Extension  

The 2007 documentary, "Do You Want To Live Forever?" follows the revolutionary life extension and immortality ideas of this somewhat eccentric scientist, Dr. Aubrey de Grey.

The 2007 documentary, "Do You Want To Live Forever?"  follows the revolutionary life extension and immortality ideas of this somewhat eccentric scientist, Dr. Aubrey de Grey.

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De Grey believes that, within the next 20-30 years, we could extend life indefinitely by addressing seven major factors in the aging process.

He describes his work as Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS).

The SENS theory describes “seven deadly things” that erode the body’s youthfulness at the cellular level, eventually leading to death by old age.

De Grey initiated the SENS Foundation, a charity that works to research, develop and promote comprehensive regenerative medicine solutions for the diseases and disabilities of aging. Their research is governed by a strategic agenda to demonstrate the feasibility of rejuvenation biotechnologies, as a natural extension of regenerative medicine as applied to aging, and therefore drive broader involvement.

Aubrey de Grey means to apply exercise, gene therapy, stem cells, and other yet-to-be-discovered methods of medicine to counteract each of these age-advancing devices:

1. Cell death and atrophy: Treatable with exercise, stem cells, and chemicals which stimulate cell division. 

2. Cancerous cells: Theoretically treatable with a type of gene therapy being developed, called Whole-body Interdiction of Lengthening of Telomeres (WILT). 

3. Mutant mitochondria: Mutated DNA in the mitochondria causes a number of diseases. These can be prevented by moving the mitochondrial DNA into the cell nucleus, where the rest of the DNA resides. 

4. Cell senescence (unwanted cells): Fat cells and other unwanted cruft can be removed surgically, or by stimulating the immune system to attack unwanted cells. 

5. Extracellular crosslinks (loss of elasticity): Certain proteins, such as those in cells making up the arteries, become too rigid over time because they bond to each other. These bonds can be broken with certain chemicals (some in clinical trials even today). 

6 Extracellular junk: “Plaque” which collects between cells can be eliminated by stimulating the immune system, and/or by using peptides called “beta-breakers.” 

7. Intracellular junk: Molecular garbage can be prevented from overwhelming certain cells by introducing enzymes which are known to be effective against such molecules.

 

Interestingly, the film shows how even de Grey is using the 'insurance policy' of cryonics in case he is unable to cure aging in time.  As a consultant to Alcor, the organization headed by Max More, de Grey says being cryo-preserved as a neuropatient (head only) is preferable to being buried or burned.  It is unclear if the cryopreservation would help maintain de Grey's famous beard.

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