500 years is a long time..
Scientists have
been trying to crack the code on extending human lifespan for years. They’ve
focused on the bacteria that inhabit us, on curing disease and increasing our
general health. Now they believe that recent research that is scientifically
shown to extend worms’ lives might be the key to extending a humans life.
Researchers manipulated two genetic
pathways in the tiny microscopic worm, Caenorhabditis elegans, which increased its
lifespan dramatically. This organism's lifespan multiplied by a factor of 5, which
researchers believe is the equivalent of 400 to 500 human years. Scientists
claim that if they can apply this to us, our lifespan will extend dramatically.
Of course, researchers say this needs to work on a mammal first. They plan to
use mice in their future research, and with a bit more alterations, they
believe this could work. What would this mean for the mice, though?
Even
if scientists do figure out how to apply this to humans, would it really
benefit the world to increase our lifespan? With the already high population
and its rapid growth, the concept of it taking nearly 500 years for an
individual to die naturally seems a bit over the top. Not to mention that with
the damage we humans have already done to the environment, the world might not
live to see a couple more decades. That would diminish the diversity of human
intelligence, which could easily mean that if there is a said person in the
near future who is going to save this world, he/she might never be born to do
that. Of course, these are just possible outcomes; nobody will be able to
predict what will actually happen until we live to be 500.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2523086/Could-humans-live-500-years-old-Scientists-believe-genetic-tweaks-significantly-extend-lifespan.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/640691.htm
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