Welcome to this series of articles about ageing, and combatting some of the negative effects of ageing. Ageing is something that hopefully happens to all of us. It is a time of glory, and a time of challenge.
Many people wanting to stave off the effects of aging will mainly have reasons of vanity. They don’t want to be immortal, but they do want to look younger for longer, and perhaps have a few less aches and pains.
Others have greater ambitions. They want to slow their aging so they can live forever and then enjoy all of the existential changes that would come from that.
Is this completely impossible? Certain thinkers say it isn’t. In fact, most scientists believe the first person to live forever has already been born.
They say that someone born today who lives for 120 years will get to benefit from all of today’s modern medicine and lifestyle/health knowledge. In 30 years, time, we might have even better medical technology and be able to cure a lot of life-ending diseases. 20 years later, we might be able to extend the average life span with gene doping (perhaps by rejuvenating the telomeres). 30 years later and we may be able to perform a brain transplant…
250 years later and we might be able to upload our consciousness to the computer.
This sounds far-fetched but so would the internet, if you were to explain it to someone alive 100 years ago!
The Top Methods for Extending Lifespan Greatly
Let’s look at some of the best options we have for extending lifespans in the near future…
Gene Doping
Insertional gene doping is already being used by doctors. It allows you to permanently alter your DNA through a single injection. Among other things, this could someday enable us to strengthen cell walls – extending our lifespans by approximately 30%, and making us less susceptible to fire or toxins.
Maybe in the distant future, we could emulate the abilities of some species of jellyfish that can restore their entire bodies by returning to a polyp state.
Consciousness Uploading
At present, we don’t know if it is possible to upload our consciousness or even if we would want to. One speculated methodology involves potentially replacing each brain cell or brain structure with mechanical parts, one piece at a time.
Brain Transplants
Science fiction? Actually, such a procedure will be attempted in the near future. Hitler experimented with head transplants during WW2 as well!
Not ready for a head transplant yet? Don’t worry! In the meantime, the best you can do is simply live as healthily as you possibly can…
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Nick Thorne is the founder of NicksDigitalSolutions Limited a company that specialises in Education, Training and Writing. He lives in Levin, New Zealand.