Science to 'stop age clock at 50'

BossArky

BBC Health wrote:

Centenarians with the bodies of 50-year-olds will one day be a realistic possibility, say scientists.

Half of babies now born in the UK will reach 100, thanks to higher living standards, but our bodies are wearing out at the same rate.

To achieve "50 active years after 50", experts at Leeds University are spending £50m over five years looking at innovative solutions.

More here.

Zamboni

I love this stuff.
Ray Kurzweil reckons that the first immortal (bar accident/injury) person is already born.
I just hope we are around long enough to reap the benefits ourselves.
The major problem is overpopulation. It is all well and good that we all get to live longer and remain active but there are simply not enough resources for the 6 billion there are now, never mind the population we may have in 30-50 years.

Roper

Zamboni wrote: »

there are simply not enough resources for the 6 billion there are now, never mind the population we may have in 30-50 years.

They were saying the same thing about the 1 billion mark 100+ years ago. I'm not saying you're wrong, just that things tend to be less disasterous than people say and foresight like that isn't possible.

Captain Furball

18 minutes long skip ahead to 7:30 and this is what they're doing today not in 100 years.



The Registry is a collection of ~3200 genetic parts that can be mixed and matched to build synthetic biology devices and systems. Founded in 2003 at MIT.
Here's their catalogue.

Basically you can build anything.
.

Bottle_of_Smoke

Sounds great, not like the earth is vastly over populated as it is or anything

TheCandystripes

well by then we will begin to colonise the other planets so it should be okay. im 19 now reckon ill be able to take advantage of this?

BossArky

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Sounds great, not like the earth is vastly over populated as it is or anything

Imagine how long you'll have to wait around for a free squat rack

g'em

Centenarians with the bodies of 50-year-olds will one day be a realistic possibility, say scientists.

As pretty an idea as this is it's fundametnally flawed - they're omitting the single most improtant organ for quality of life in the ageing population: the brain. This is the real limiting factor. Your brain will age and degenerate irrespective of the quality of the rest of the body, and neurodegeneration will march on regardless.

Not all of those diseases and disorders are lethal of course and so what we will potentially end up with is a ageing population with healthy bodies and affected minds putting great strains on the health service. We eon't have an abundance of young people, just more older people who can't do much :pac:

ragg

maybe so Gem - I just hope my 100 year old brain remembers how to squat :pac:

BossArky

Captain Furball wrote: »

18 minutes long skip ahead to 7:30 and this is what they're doing today not in 100 years.



The Registry is a collection of ~3200 genetic parts that can be mixed and matched to build synthetic biology devices and systems. Founded in 2003 at MIT.
Here's their catalogue.

Basically you can build anything.
.

Thanks. That video was pretty interesting.

Hail 2 Da Chimp

BossArky wrote: »

Thanks. That video was pretty interesting.

Just goes to show - there's no point exercising, I'm off to the Registry to get me a pint of those stem cells!

brianthebard

Roper wrote: »

They were saying the same thing about the 1 billion mark 100+ years ago. I'm not saying you're wrong, just that things tend to be less disasterous than people say and foresight like that isn't possible.

At the time it was pretty much true, 'advances' in chemical technology allowed agricultural produce to expand and fuel the population the world has now. The price for this is the ****ty food production system we have now and the massive pollution problems that brings.

nice_guy80

it'll go the other way in next 100 years - people growing their own veg and fruit in gardens and allotments to ensure supply and quality.

especially in western societies - they import most of their food