Well, if words of Aubrey de Grey are to be believed, the human life expectancy can see drastic increment in near future. Within his own lifetime doctors will have all necessary tools to reverse the damage caused by ageing, predicted the bio-medical gerontologist and chief scientist of SENS foundation (research foundation for rejuvenation bio-technologies).
De Grey foresee a time when people will go to a doctor for regular maintenance like stem cell therapy, immune system stimulation, genetic and other advanced treatments to keep them in good shape. He describes ageing as the lifelong accumulation of various types of molecular and cellular damage throughout the body.
"The idea is to engage in what you might call preventative geriatrics, where you go in to periodically repair that molecular and cellular damage before it gets to the level of abundance that is pathogenic," he explained.
How far and how fast the life expectancy will increase is a matter of debate, but the trend is quite clear. Currently average life expectancy is increasing by 3 months every year, and experts claim there will be more than a million centenarians by 2030. Some researchers however say, that obesity may falter the trends towards longevity.
For some the concept of long living is not very fascinating as it associates the images of sick, weak old people and societies who are increasingly less able to cope.
"This is absolutely not a matter of keeping people alive in a bad state of health," he told. "This is about preventing people from getting sick as a result of old age. The particular therapies that we are working on will only deliver long life as a side effect of delivering better health."
De Grey classify cell damaging due to ageing in 7 categories, for which redevelopment technologies need to be discovered if his predictions of regular maintenance and longevity are to come true. For more details on his theory and SENS foundation, follow the links.
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