Monday, November 19, 2007

Aubrey de Grey on longevity

I was fascinated to see this fairly lengthy feature article about Aubrey de Grey, the Cambridge biologist (whose first academic obsession was computer science) who is convinced not only that people can live longer than threescore and ten, but significantly longer, maybe 1,000 years. I attended a lecture by de Grey about 18 months ago and was fascinated and mostly convinced by his combination of visionary ideas and eagerness to have them subjected to rigorous scientific testing. Unfortunately, he didn't hold out much hope that codgers like me could benefit form the kind of cellular engineering he thinks will be feasible for humans in 20 or 30 years that could, for example, engineer enzymes that digest lipofuscins, which accumulate in our cells as a kind goo as we age, into our bodies. Well, I'll just keep on taking my vitamins.

Aubrey actually attracts feature stories because he has just published "Ending Aging: The Rejuvenation Breakthroughs That Could Reverse Human Aging in Our Lifetime." I suspect much of it will be familiar from his lecture, but I can't wait to read it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Grey's lecture of visionary ideas and eagerness to have them subjected to rigorous scientific testing.That could be feasible for humans in 20 or 30 years.Thank for sharing thoughts.