Thoughts on Living Forever

Thoughts on aging research, highlanders, and living longer

Are we programmed to "die"?   Of course we are.  Think of our DNA as a spool of tape:  there are little "caps" or leaders called telomeres.  These "tick down" as you age, and when they expire, you age.

Some boring science first

Telomerase is a ribonucleoprotein whose activity has been detected in germ line cells, immortal cells, and most cancer cells. Except in stem cells, which have a low level of telomerase activity, its activity is absent from normal somatic tissues. Understanding the regulation of telomerase activity is critical for the development of potential tools for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Using the telomeric repeat amplification protocol, we found that immortal, telomerase-positive, pseudodiploid human cells (HT1080 and HL60 cells) sorted by flow repressed in quiescent cells. This was true whether quiescence was induced by contact inhibition (NIH 3T3 mouse cells), growth factor removal (bromodeoxyuridine-blocked mouse myoblasts), expression of cellular senescence (the reversibly immortalized IDH4 cells), or irreversible cell differentiation (HL60 promyelocytic leukemia cells and C2C12 mouse myoblasts). Taken together, these results indicate that telomerase is active throughout the cell in dividing, immortal cells but that its activity is repressed in cells that exit the cell cycle. This suggests that quiescent stem cells that have the potential to express telomerase may remain unaffected by potential antitelomerase cancer therapies.

So our DNA is programmed to expire.   (Too bad we’re not fungi, but that’s another rant on alien DNA).

Now, there ARE "immortal" cells: they are called cancer.  Cancer seems to be the only immortal cell on earth.

So until we can reset the telomeres, we will age, and die.

If we COULD reset the telomeres, your body would essentially stop aging, and treat “aging” like a repairable injury.

Current research has gone into producing various treatments for fooling the telomeres, or resetting them, or arresting their erosion.  Research has been moderately successful, BUT when the telomeres are reset, the cell becomes immortal, and within a few months, spontaneous cancers appear and death shortly follows.

So science can make you "immortal" for about 6 months.

So, while our biology has an expiration limit, there is real research being made in cheating that limit.

And if you think this treatment will only be available to the rich, consider this:

Imagine an enzyme treatment is developed which will reset your body clock.  It's a pill that costs a cool $50,000.

If you have good health insurance, it will be covered.  I am certain of it.

Why?

Because 90% of the healthcare cost you are likely to cost your insurance company happens due to aging and aging related infirmities.  If your insurance company can avoid that huge cost in your old age, they'd jump at the chance.

So, if you are under 20, hope to live to be 1000 or so, make sure you get a good HMO.

- We live in the future.  We just can’t afford it.

--- Me