Living Forever: Is It Possible?
We age every day and wait for death to come along. As much as we fear and hate it, death will undoubtedly be the last page of our book.
But what if there’s a way for you to live forever? Let’s say, an immortality pill. Would you take it?
For years, people have become obsessed with the idea of immortality. Living forever became a human obsession, and it is what most people are longing. Many scientists have become curious about how super-centenarians have lived that long.
Take Jeanne Calment of France, the oldest human who had lived, as an example. She died in 1997 at the age of 122. Scientists became fascinated, and it had led them to wonder how long humans can live. There are also several studies on how to prolong human life, and some even made studies on how we can stop the aging process.
In 2016, a group of researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine claimed that humans could not live past 115 years old. The results of their study strongly suggest that the maximum lifespan of humans is “fixed and subject to natural constraints.”
But, two biologists at McGill University found out that there is no detectable limit to the human lifespan. In fact, according to them, there’s a possibility to increase the maximum and average lifespans of humans.
It gave hope to many people. Most of us believed – and some are still thinking – that infinite life is possible.
What even brought the people to such excitement is the study on how scientists found the fountain of youth. Dr. John Cooke of the Houston Methodist Research Institute said that they could make aged cells younger. With the help of telomeres, the tip of chromosomes found in human cells, the aging process can be stopped.
Richard Cawthon, a geneticist at the University of Utah, concluded that shorter lives are associated with shorter telomeres.
Dr. John Cooke and his team used RNA therapeutics to produce the telomerase, a protein that lengthens telomeres. Such a technique helps the cells improve their lifespan and function. And according to them, there was a “dramatic improvement” and that it reduced the markers of aging.
However, as much as I hate to burst your bubble, we are still unsure how we can entirely stop the aging process so we can say goodbye to being mortal. Cooke says that further research still needs to be done.
Also, researchers found out that it is possible to stop the aging process, but only if science can figure out a way to make a selection between organisms. They found that as we age, two things happen to our body on a cellular level.
One, the cells slow down and start to lose function. Second, some cells rapidly grow in which it forms to cancer cells. If you get rid of the “sluggish cells,” the cancer cells proliferate. If you get rid of cancer cells, then sluggish cells will accumulate, and you can’t do them both at the same time. So basically, we can’t stop the aging process.
While aging is inevitable – at least for now – we have scientists working and researching so that one day, we can dodge death and live forever. But, as of today, no one has the answers yet on how to become immortal. The immortality pill doesn’t exist yet. But, who knows, perhaps someday we’ll have it. Only time can tell.
Leaving a Lasting Legacy
While we may not be able to live forever physically (at least for now), you can live forever in the hearts of people by leaving a lasting legacy. And donating your body to science is a noble legacy that can help improve the lives of future generations.
Body donation helps medical professionals make breakthrough discoveries that benefit all of humanity. You can be a part of that too. Donate your body to science and help us transform the future of medicine. Contact us now to know more.
About The Author
As a nurse, Franchette Agatha Jardin firmly believes in the importance of understanding the human body and the advancement of science. She writes about what people can do for the betterment of the world and how everyone can be part of something great.
