Google executive says it's possible to live to be 500

[JubilateDeo]

My concern with this is... with all these people living longer, it is going to affect population, and then the Population Control nutjobs are going to have even more of a reason to call for one child policies and forced sterilizations.  I could see a future where you have to apply for a permit to have children.

[Habitual_Ritual]

Solent Green.

Only the elite will live longer. The rest of us will be mandated to die at 60

[GloriaPatri]

My concern with this is... with all these people living longer, it is going to affect population, and then the Population Control nutjobs are going to have even more of a reason to call for one child policies and forced sterilizations.  I could see a future where you have to apply for a permit to have children.

Like any new tech, this will be expensive at first, limiting it to the wealthy. By the time it does trickle down (if it does) hopefully other technologies will have allowed us to grow enough food for our population and then some (I'm looking at you, vertical farms)

[LoneWolfRadTrad]

What legitimate reason is there for anyone to want to live past 90?

You get old.  Your faculties start going.

Plus, and this is the worst of them all, think of all the other imbeciles you'd have to interact with.

If you slow down the ageing process (let's say we slow it down by half) then 90 would be the new 45, 100 the new 50, and so on. Life extension is never just a matter of living longer, it involves drastically slowing down the ageing process itself.

But does that mean the teen years and the adolescent drama lasts twice as long, too?

Think of a dog's lifespan compared to ours -- they go through all the same phases, just in a shorter period.  Even their teething is shorter, same with their adolescent drama and puberty (assuming not neutered).   This would be the reverse -- and if it started from birth, then all sorts of things would take twice as long (including the baby phase).  That would mean supporting minor children who lack maturity to make it on their own for up to 40 years.

As Laus hs already said, slowing down the ageing process only begins once maturity has been reached. The growth rate from birth to 25ish is left alone, while ageing beyond that is slowed down. No life extension supporter would advocate slowing down the ageing process during the early years.

And yet -- wouldn't that be the easiest way to modify it -- to replace the gene that makes people age, before they are even born?

Not saying it's morally okay -- just saying it makes the most sense...

Well, there is no "aging gene", actually.  What it is is the telomeres on the tips of our chromosomes.  So, there's a "youth gene", which controls the production of telomerase.

They act like the bindings that hold a book's pages together.  Every time a cell splits into two, the telomeres shorten.  This happens until there's no telomere left to hold a chormosome together and the nucleus of the cell can't function properly.

If they can find a way to regenerate the telomerase that the telomeres are grown with, we may not die of age. 

Problem is, they have indeed found a gene that triggers telomere regeneration... one of the same genes that's triggered when you get cancer.

That's why tumors get so large.  They can split over and over and won't run out of the telomerase needed for the telomeres on chromosomes.

Here's another problem: we have so many different types of cells in our bodies, it would be very difficult and take a while to modify them all.

[Sockpuppet]

What legitimate reason is there for anyone to want to live past 90?

You get old.  Your faculties start going.

Plus, and this is the worst of them all, think of all the other imbeciles you'd have to interact with.

People that live long lives tend to be mentally alert and physically active even in old age.

I actually just read that the 3rd oldest woman in the world is Italian and 115. She still lives on her own and has no need for physical assistance. If I can live to 115 on those terms, I'm in.

[MundaCorMeum]

Still can't see a reason to live longer.

We all have to die.

Well, if interstellar travel ever becomes a thing travel times will be centuries at the least.

Also, as someone else said earlier I do have quite a decent bucket list. There are so many sites I want to visit, both holy and secular. That I don't think I could fit it all into one lifetime.

Also, imagine the good you could do in service to God if you had more time to do it.

Longer lifespans could also mean less change, as it takes more time for one generation to give way to the next.

There's nothing inherently wrong with longer lifespans. Average life expectancy has been raising for centuries now, from mid 30s during the classical era to an average of 81 years in W. Europe today. And if we all lived ideally health lifestyles we could, as HabRit mentioned earlier, live to around 120.

Except, most people won't.  We already do an excellent job of squandering our limited time here.  With a life span like that, I can only imagine even more havoc, not holiness, unfortunately.  Human nature will be what it is, until the end of the world.

[Greg]

Not with a 25GB limit it ain't.

[LoneWolfRadTrad]

Still can't see a reason to live longer.

We all have to die.

Well, if interstellar travel ever becomes a thing travel times will be centuries at the least.

Also, as someone else said earlier I do have quite a decent bucket list. There are so many sites I want to visit, both holy and secular. That I don't think I could fit it all into one lifetime.

Also, imagine the good you could do in service to God if you had more time to do it.

Longer lifespans could also mean less change, as it takes more time for one generation to give way to the next.

There's nothing inherently wrong with longer lifespans. Average life expectancy has been raising for centuries now, from mid 30s during the classical era to an average of 81 years in W. Europe today. And if we all lived ideally health lifestyles we could, as HabRit mentioned earlier, live to around 120.

Except, most people won't.  We already do an excellent job of squandering our limited time here.  With a life span like that, I can only imagine even more havoc, not holiness, unfortunately.  Human nature will be what it is, until the end of the world.

It may even cheapen the way people value life.  Moreso than they already do.

[Prayerful]

I'm sure there could be some sort of billion dollar bubble for the hyper rich with advanced life support machines, but it does sound a bit like Master of Universe white powder talk.

[Conclavist]

"But I want to live forever in heaven with God" or some response like that