I recently read an article about the immortal jellyfish that brought up many questions about humanity living forever. Is it a possibility? What would this life entail? Would we, if immortal, have to battle with swords because “there could be only one”? (Yep, as a science fiction nerd, I had to go there.) The biggest question that pops into my head when thinking about the topic is why would anyone really want to live forever? This is more of a philosophical question and I think for this blog, I will try to concentrate on the scientific possibilities and the biological examples (non-human).
Eternal life; exemption from dying; unending existence; whatever you may call it is this even a physical possibility? Philosophers, futurists, and certain scientists have hypothesized over the possibility of human immortality for a long time (some might say forever) but it is now believed that it is achievable within a few decades. Biological immortality is the absence of aging. It would not do away with death by disease or physical trauma but other modes such as mind uploading could make even that a possibility. This type of research, as well as others along similar lines brings up the question: would you want to be immortal if you could? If you could slow or stop the aging process, at what age physically would you want to remain? And what other types of ethical questions would this bring up? All right, we have now gotten all the questions out of the way, let’s look into the facts.
You do not need to find the fountain of youth but you could look to the tiny immortal jellyfish, also known as Turritopsis dohrnii, for pointers. This tiny jellyfish achieves this feat by restarting its life, in a way. After it has achieved an age of sexual maturity it can transform itself back into a polyp using transdifferentiation, the ability to convert cells from one state to another. So in times of extreme stress, physical attack, or when they become sick or old, they can revert to the polyp stage and start all over again. This can theoretically happen over and over again but this regeneration does not preclude being eaten; it is hard to walk away from predation.
The hydra is a simple freshwater predatory animal that biologists are interested in because of their regenerative ability. These creatures do not appear to die of old age or to age at all. The hydra’s stem cells seem to have an indefinite capability to self-renew and scientists have busy studying them to work out exactly how this is achieved.
The bristlecone pine, known to live in some of the harshest climates and worst soils on Earth, are speculated to be immortal. Under this term are three species of the pine family in which the longest lived is the Pinus longaeva. It is estimated to be over 5000 years old, making it the oldest known species. The main problem with these trees is the fact that their reproduction is so low so if fire or disease attacks them, there are few new trees to take over. Who knows, maybe research into these very different species will give scientists clues into human longevity too.
In human immortality studies there are some known naturally occurring and artificially produced chemicals that may extend a person’s life expectancy such as resveratrol although this has not shown conclusively to work. Human growth hormone has been touted as the fountain of youth but there is little evidence to support the claims of those who flog these supplements and it has been known to cause other health issues. There are a group of scientists that believe that increasing the amount of telomerase (a naturally occurring enzyme in the body that helps maintain the protective ends of the chromosomes) could help prevent the cells from dying and lead to a healthier life. There has also been study into the production of embryonic stem cells to express telomerase. (Is there anything those stem cells cannot do?)
If you want a more technological way of continuing on, why not try mind to computer uploading or cybernetics? Your whole human consciousness could be uploaded into a computer, robot, or replacing broken parts with artificial replacements thus doing away with the possibility of a dying human body.
There are other prospects for human life extension in the area of technical immortality including biological engineering, cryonics (freeze yourself until you can cure what ails you), regenerative medicine, human cloning, and nanotechnology where a person can swallow a ‘doctor’ to repair what is broken. The business of life extension is booming and there is a lot of money to be spent on studies in this area. It would seem that many people fear the end of their life and would give much to lengthen it. Now, I had said that I would not get too philosophical but I want to take a moment to propose this one thought: we currently live on planet with too many people so what would happen if those people stopped dying and yet kept reproducing? I don’t know about you but I think this is a recipe for trouble; just saying.
–Janice Willson
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immortality
