Could We Live Forever? Or Even Come Close?

Technology, Along With Lifestyle Changes, May Extend Our Already-Increasing Lifespans

(CBS)  In a quiet Boston suburb, Esther MacKay has made it to 102 years old - and counting.

Born in 1905, MacKay traveled the world during a long career in the military. Lately she’s been honored as the Air Force’s longest-living chief master sergeant.

For MacKay, there’s no mystery about what’s gotten her this far.

"I had three no-no’s in my rules growing up," she told CBS News technology correspondent Daniel Sieberg. "One was no smoking. Two was no drinking. Three, no sex. That’s it, one, two, three."

Her rules may not be everyone's keys to the good life, but even if you don’t follow the Esther MacKay prescription, your prognosis for living a long life is improving.

Consider how life expectancy has increased over the last two centuries. An average man born in 1800 had a life expectancy of 35 years. In 1900, he would have made it all the way to 47. By 1950, average life expectancy was up to 68 years, and now it’s up to 78.

The trend is definitely favorable. But how far can we take it?

Although Ponce de Leon never found the legendary fountain of youth, today in labs like the one at the University of California, San Francisco, scientists are trying to stop the clock or at least slow it down.

In San Francisco, Professor Cynthia Kenyon is conducting experiments on microscopic worms. Their usual life span is little more than 13 days, but she has been able to get some to live as long as six times that by altering one specific gene.

"And here is the long-lived mutant when it’s also 13 days old," she said, showing Sieberg her handy-work. "But you can see, look at that! It’s still living a productive, active life. I would say it might be heading out to play tennis."

Kenyon believes her work shows that the rate of aging is not fixed. Rather, it can be slowed dramatically.

"The important thing for people to understand is that this is new," she said. "Fifteen years ago, and from 15 years ago on back, to when we were cavemen, cavewomen, people thought aging just happened. There's nothing you can do about it. That was it. And then along came these animals where you make a little change and they live twice as long ... Something we never thought can happen, can happen."

At the University of Wisconsin, scientists are using rhesus monkeys for similar purposes. They haven't monkeyed with their genes, but simply cut down on some of their food. For example, two monkeys are the same age, but one has eaten normally and the other is on a restricted-calorie diet and appears to have spent time at a monkey spa.

Calorie restriction research goes back more than 70 years to pioneering experiments on mice at Cornell University. Restricting your food intake does appear to extend life, although no one's totally sure how.

"If we base ideas on calorie restriction, in animals, and even in monkeys, which are relatively close to us, we see that calorie restriction slows down virtually all diseases of aging," researcher on aging at Harvard David Sinclair said.

Eat less, live longer? Easier said than done.

Brian Delaney is the president of the Calorie Restriction Society. He says it's easy to live on a calorie restricted diet, simply figure out what your normal intake of calories would be and then reduce it by 20 to 30 percent - or maybe even a bit more.

"But then you don't want to take it too far because then it's frankly starvation," he said.

Members of Delaney's group generally consume fewer than 2,000 calories a day and some go as low as 1,000 calories. Will they live longer? Is what's good for dessert-deprived monkeys also good for people?

"The CR diet could allow a human being to live to be maybe 135 or 140 years, but we don't know yet because we have not done that long a study in humans," Delaney said.

But of the course the main obstacle is: hunger. For most people, cutting calories is anything but easy.

Which is what's brought Harvard's David Sinclair to his latest project: trying to put the apparent benefits of calorie restriction - in a pill. He's now a director at a company called Sirtris Pharmaceuticals along with Dr. Christophe Westphal.

"We're not telling you 'eat whatever you want and then take our pill,'" Westphal said. "What we're saying is, 'Do the best you can on behavior, but we think we can turn on that same pathway with small molecule drugs.'"

The pill they've developed is based on a naturally-occurring substance called Resveratrol, which is found in red wine. But don't think you're going to guzzle your way to longevity: one pill has the potency of 1,000 glasses of wine.

So far the tablets are doing great things for mice. In a Sirtris video, two mice are the same age. But one mouse been taking Resveratrol and he is thriving. But it's not fair to call Resveratrol an anti-aging drug, Sinclair said.

"I sometimes slip and call it that," he said. "But actually, this is not about slowing down the aging process. It's about treating diseases that are caused by aging. And if we are successful at that, of course people will live longer, healthier lives."

The first disease they're targeting is diabetes. They hope to get Resveratrol on the market in about five years.

"Imagine a future where you're a diabetic, and your doctor prescribes you a drug," Sinclair said. "And the doctor says, 'Well, as a side effect, I have to warn you you're also protected against heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer's.' Well, you know, if we can get there, that'd be great. But that's the future that we're aiming for."

But to some people, like inventor Ray Kurzweil, a pill like that is just the first of innovations that he and others think could extend our lives for hundreds - yes hundreds - of years.

"We've gone 20,000 years without significantly changing the software that runs in our body. We have the tools now to do that," he said.

Kurzweil - you may have heard of his keyboards - foresees what he calls "the singularity," when technology and human biology merge. He's banking on the advance of technology continuing to accelerate, yielding devices like nanobots - microscopic robots that would roam your blood stream, curing what ails you.

The only problem for Kurzweil is living long enough to see it all happen. To that end, he carefully watches what he eats and takes 200 supplements throughout the day.

"You can never prove forever, because no matter how long you live, whether it's 100 or 1,000 years, that's not forever," he said. "But we can get to a point where as time goes by, you're really not aging."

But of course, mention life-spans of hundreds of years, and people usually seem to have one question: why would they want to live that long?

"Well, there's two negative thoughts that come up: One is, 'Okay, I'm gonna be a 90-year-old' as we think of them today, 'and that I'm gonna live like that for another 200 years,'" Kurzweil said. "And that's really not what we're trying to achieve. We're trying to stay in good health and really not age, so we can stay 30 or 35. We're not only going to have radical life extension, we're gonna have radical life expansion."

Dr. Thomas Perls at Boston University runs the world's largest study of centenarians. He's learned from subjects like Esther MacKay that long life isn't just a matter of genes. It has a lot to do with lifestyle.

"There is no such thing as a fountain of youth," he said. "There may be a fountain of aging well. And the fountain of aging well has to do with your good health habits, and knowing that things like smoking are truly terrible for you and can knock 20 years off your life expectancy."

And to nudge you in the right direction, Perls has developed an on-line calculator that's a bit of a crystal ball. You punch in your family history, your health and lifestyle choices, and it predicts how long you might live.

Perls, for one, is looking forward to many more healthy, happy years.

"It looks like I'll live to 94," he said. "And given what I know, that means I'm gonna be spending a big chunk of that in good health. I would love to do that."

Visit Dr. Richard Perls’ Life Expectancy Calculator at www.livingto100.com.

[wyadams]

So why isn''t the URL to the Dr. Perl web page posted prominently in the story or mentioned on the broadcast? Once again we have a story where they don''t bother to provide needed information. I sometimes wonder what backwater college gave degrees to these so-called journalists. I am tired of having to search all over the place to find a simple web address or other piece of information that should be provided.

[ms38654ob]

I found it with a quick search of Google. I don''t know why the author of the piece didn''t take the 10 seconds out of their life to do it.

http://www.livingto100.com/

[benziger1]

My husband & I just took Dr. Perls test to caculate our
potential age span.

I have had Type 1 Diabetes for 46 years. I am in dialysis due to kidney failure and have had Rheumatoid Arthritis for ten years. In addition I have polyneuropathy and severe orthostatic hypotension. ( amazing I can sit at a computer, eh?)

My husband has a small problem with acid reflux.

Here''s the catch. We both came out within 6 months of each other. We are both going to live to be about 83.

My doctor''s would be amazed.

[ms38654ob]

I think the test is just a come-on for a commercial web site. As another reader found out, it''s kind of silly. My answer was reasonable though, 95, but then again, all my direct relatives are still alive and my grandfather lived until 99. I could have figured that without some silly Q and A.

Skip the test.

If you do take it, don''t give your real e-mail address at the end or you''ll end up being spammed. Any bogus e-mail will work, so just use something imaginative.

[gmink1]

How do you take the test?

[gmink1]

ANYBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How do you take the test?
It doesnt even have a
freakin link to the stupid
thing!!!

[zootallures2]

Could We Live Forever? You do... Matter can not be created or destroyed. When you eat a fish or a cow, it becomes part of your body, no? Reincarnation...LOL!

[missingamerica]

They cure cancer, they''ll probably solve aging, too. Seems to me to be a significant linkage between cancer and how our cells slowly "forget" their original blueprint over time when they replicate.

[vancouverboo]

Fantasy Island stuff. It better be, or we''ll be in big trouble. We can''t even keep social security solvent with our limited life spans.

[hypnotoad72]

Why? I love the idea, but the way the jobs are going, who''d want to be destitute for an extra 70 years? Our society, as it is, thinks anyone over 40 is too old to learn any new skills but refuses to admit it...

[howcould]

Living forever is denying the most basic and fundamentally important right humanity has ever had: The right to die.

[howcould]

Some people say being a republican is a destitute. Some people say being a democrat is. Some people say being a bum on the street is. But none of that is true. Whats true is that there isn''t anything more warmer, cozier, and more human than dieing. Not anything.. Its almost like its the one thing in this world that got the bum rap from the people who feared it. That got the blame for all the things wrong in the world.. And in fact, its our friend. Thats right! Our bestest friend..

[howcould]

Too many people use death.. as their schtick, if yaz azzz me. Too many people call it their ally, thinking it a thing to be feared. Thinking it a thing that strikes fear in people.. If sticks had faces, death would have a sour frown on its face. And say: "Oh no.. not again. Another macho dude using me to stick up his azzz.."

[zootallures2]

In San Francisco, Professor Cynthia Kenyon is conducting experiments on microscopic worms. Their usual life span is little more than 13 days, but she has been able to get some to live as long as six times that by altering one specific gene.

And NASA was able to get lots of money with a moon landing.

An average man born in 1800 had a life expectancy of 35 years. George Washington was 67 when he died and born long before 1800. Thomas Jefferson 83....

[howcould]

Death is the ultimate perspective. Because once you understand it, you''re no longer afraid of it. And the people out there who are afraid the most, are scared to death of people not scared of death. Of people not scared.. Its like talking to a wall.

"DON''T YOU UNDERSTAND YER SUPPOSED TO BE AFRAID?!?!?!"

"Nope.."

[howcould]

Live forever anyway. Don''t be afraid no more. More people have died than anyplace, and for anything else, in all creation. You''re in good company..

[howcould]

When a fellers scared out of his mind and that lunatic takes his life, the first he does afterwards.. is laugh.

[zootallures2]

Our life spans are not increasing. Our population count is. What a crock of bull...ha ha ha ha

There were no people who lived to 100 a long time ago? Bullsh*t!

[tcciro]

To all you complainers, if you had just read the whole article, you would have found the link to the test at the end.

[jjarden]

This is all well and good, but they''re forgetting that the MONEY has to last as long as the person or else that 100 year old person is going to be living to 200 in rags on the street.

[howcould]

Money.. money.. everythings money with you people. No wonder everythings so boring.

[donbl1]

We would need to work longer to save enough to live on.........

Also, who wants to get the longevity pill when they are in their 80''s? I would have wanted it in my 20''s or early 30''s.

[eonwe1]

Its a fallacy to say that average life spans increasing means that individuals are living longer. The increasing average lifespan is due to a decreased infant mortality rate. Hunter/gatherer population have lifespans comparable to our own so long as they get past the difficult first few years.

[howcould]

Oh I see. So we''re like wolves.

[howcould]

If ya really wanted to live forever, you wouldn''t do it genetically. Genetics is too complicated. Nature can''t be replaced, see.. with what she does. At least not yet. Nope.. you''d stick a brain in a mechanical robot of some kind. Easily understood.. Easily maintained.

[howcould]

And hidden in the steel belly would be a "emotion container".. filled with narcotics. Coke, meth, nicotine, alcohol.. each on a mood, see.. to facilitate the brains lack of familiar contact with the flesh. A brain on drugs..

[jjarden]

howcould - "Money.. money.. everythings money with you people."

What planet are you living on? On mine, we have to work to make money to survive...and that means a 20 year old person will be working a LONG time. I''m happy for you that you don''t have to worry about MONEY. The rest of us do.

[howcould]

As life goes on, one becomes less and less familiar with the outside world. Age is the body shutting down.. some people think a voluntary decision, but its not one. Its a thing of familiarity.

Familiarity is the steel shell or blanket that covers us all.. and youth is a thing the world needs to stay young.

[howcould]

So that would be the ultimate "living forever". Never acknowledging responsibility.. Never acknowledging culpability. A mind is like a puller of the body''s hand in, not discovering things, but staying young anyway it can.

So the fountain of youth is being dumb.

[howcould]

"What planet are you living on? On mine, we have to work to make money to survive...and that means a 20 year old person will be working a LONG time. I''''m happy for you that you don''''t have to worry about MONEY. The rest of us do."

Thats why the west has failed. Because you chase something invented to chase you.

[howcould]

A robot with a jackhammer.

[hypnotoad72]

howcould - wow, you''re on a happy pill this morning, aren''t you?

[howcould]

If I''m happy its because I''m ignorant.

[howcould]

another possibility for the fountain of youth is the concept of conscience. Too many people, imho, want us to live their lives. Want us to "understand them". And my good nature accommodates their wishes. But too many people in this country live behind their teevee sets. Living vicariously thru other peoples lives. Conscience is a thing that has to be taken back, and life will blossom.. to when it was about ourselves. And not others..

[howcould]

Peace and prosperity was made evil because of a peckkkertrack. Why? Because people watched their teevee sets.. and listened to those idiots and carpetbaggers.. whole buildings dedicated to the sardonic unraveling of the individual. Theres nothing noble or admirable about doing that.. nothing at all. Journalism today is a world wide embarrassment. And people are sitting on their sofas.. some with the cure for cancer. Some with the cure for AIDs.. some with a plant that will grow in a desert. And we don''t have those things.. because they''re listening to the loud mouths.

[nmsuip]

No ***? No booze? No thanks.

"...when technology and human biology merge..." Isn''t that The Borg?

You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile...

[howcould]

Give us our conscience back. And we''ll live forever.

[nmsuip]

Oops. Got censored. That was supposed to read "No s*e*x? No booze? No thanks..."

[jjarden]

howcould - You''re too funny...you''re trying really hard to sound "Smart and Enlightened"...but you sound really DUMB...so I guess you achieved your "Fountain of Youth."

[howcould]

Belief used to be a thing so common, fella.. you wouldn''t believe it.

[howcould]

Its wrong to think that the mind solves everything. Knowing stuff actually solves very little, in real life. So no need for the x-ray.. Most people who solve things solve things by burying themselves alive in it. By their heart.. by their soul. They see something wrong and without solution, they dive into it. And thats the way most things are solved.. in real life. They didn''t even know what it was..

[logicanada]

What? No ***! We would have to live forever with no children to follow in our footsteps.

[howcould]

When ya know stuff, its easier to be cynical about it. Thats why people long for mystery. Thats why they call it new, likely the oldest thing on earth. But they don''t wanna know it to know it. Thats the last thing they want from it.. They wanna live it.

They wanna live.. in mystery. With their own conscience.. THAT! Is the fountain of youth.

[howcould]

You know it alls.. you got no idea how wrong it is to be a know it all. How distasteful it is.. not just to your fellow man, but to nature itself. Too much emphasis on information.. too much emphasis on definition.. and its a world of no meaning.

No meanings.. mean more religion.

[howcould]

Ya wanna criticize everybody? Huh? Ya wanna make peace and prosperity a peckkkertrack? Mankind''s life will be very short.

[b-easy63]

They cure cancer, they''''ll probably solve aging, too. Seems to me to be a significant linkage between cancer and how our cells slowly "forget" their original blueprint over time when they replicate.

Posted by ibsteve2u at 11:10 AM : Nov 11, 2007

Science does NOT cure cancer. There are no cures yet. Science treats cancer successfully. They do it like a mechanic does a car: they cut it out, blast it with poison or radiation and hope the patient lives. To date, there are very few cures on the table, just treating and manipulating what is there.

People often die from the treatments, not the cancer. When or if they ever develop cures, they will not have to almost kill the patient or destroy large parts of their bodies and "hope" they live longer. As for eternal life--frankly--the present crop of humans (ie., we baby boomers) deserve to leave this world as fast as possible. We are a bane and user of our kids and grandkids'' legacies and we are so selfish that anything goes as long as we profit. That means using Social Security funds up is okay, depleting the ozone and polluting the world is okay, using up fossil fuels, spending away, outsourcing, wars and tortures is okay...if every a group deserved to be let go of for future generations, it is the boomers--what''s left of the world will breathe easier when we leave it in droves.

[howcould]

Its not a talent to be a cynic. Its a curse. Its a representation bad of what would otherwise be nothing worth worrying about. Why do you wanna be everybody''s worry? Why do you wanna make it a philosophy? Its not a philosophy. Philosophy is a fluke.. A fancy word or two that some guy doing nothing had to end up doing.. inevitably.

You''re not smart. You''re not a genius. You''re not a representer of freedom and democracy. You''re not a freedom fighter. It isn''t even in your capability. The only thing you were ever capable of was changing a teevee channel.

[jjarden]

howcould...I''m starting to worry about you...You''re writing is completely Incoherent. I have a graduate degree in Philosophy, and I can understand Kant and Wittgenstein better than I can understand your writings.

[b-easy63]

Science can''t even successfully treat chronic pain--they don''t even know what causes it. We pretend to know so much but as most who end up in the hospital or doctors office find out---we really know very little. Just a lot of hype to think we are smarter and know more than we really do. Check out the people who are in their 90s and 100s, I know quite a few (or knew quite a few) one thing they seemed to have in common was that most stayed away from hospitals, doctors and their drugs and did not eat out a lot.

[howcould]

Ethics was the thing that brought to the lime light morality. Now whats so ethical about that?