Can We Surpass The Natural Age Limit?

Introduction

Senescence; or rather; the process of aging is one of the inevitable things we experience as humans. But have you ever imagined the possibility of circumventing the natural process of senescence; maybe in an unnatural way? Well, if you have imagined this, then I guess we are thinking alike. Here we would be looking at the possibilities of circumventing senescence.

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Age Limit?

You may be wondering who pegged the average lifespan of humans at its present value. But it might interest you to know that in the prehistoric times (according to some "oral traditions" which is still a valid source of history), people lived way longer than this our contemporary time.

According to a Chinese ancient medical record; it was indicated that a particular doctor and acupuncturist from the Qin dynasty; Dr Cuie Wenze lived over 300years. Does this send any signals to you? And don't get it twisted, some people had also been recorded to surpass that age in the ancient time. Permit me to make a quick reference from the Holy book; Bible:

According to Gen 5 vs 27, it was indicated that Methuselah lived to be 969years. Source: Bible

We are not diverting to religion, but I just want to draw a little reference to buttress my points. If these things are so, why then is the average upper limit of the human life brought down from those high 3-digits?

Based on a publication recently released by the Frontiers, it was indicated that; in apposition with the biological and environmental factors, there has been a certain limitation to the average lifespan of the human species. Though this could be based on some theoretical framework, but we are not unaware of the fact that many factors; including genetics, and over-dependency on technology; have parts to play in this.

You could ask; what has been the recognized upper limit of the human age in this our contemporary time? Okay, according to Berthelot, et al, this has been pegged at somewhere between 115 and 120. But as it were, how many people have been seen to be up to 120 years lately? That is the reason some believe that "age-curing" is still a thing of the future. But it is my honour to remind us that the future is already here with us. No wonder it has been stated by the duo of professors Adrien Marck and Jean Francois Toussant that:

The potentials of the modern humans (which includes; lifespan) is dependent on a long term evolutionary parameters. Prof Marck et al; Paris Descartes University. [paraphrased by me]

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Going beyond limit

There have been propositions that would potentially extend the average lifespan of the modern humankind.

Note this: We may not be talking about immortality yet (which could be the ultimate destination of age extension), but just a little extension beyond the normal. But all these things hinge on this fact; which I have said before and would love to reiterate here again:

If scientists are making advancements to prolong the average age of humankind, they should also try to make humans live through it healthily. No one would choose the option of living long in a vegetable state. Hive account@samminator

But as it were, the advancements have already begun in the extension of the limits of our age. And we would be looking at some of them briefly and the potentials in them.

1. Cybernetic Immortality

This is the sub-discipline of the digital immortality we had talked about sometimes ago. There is no disproving to the fact that the advancement of technology has charted a new course in the existence of humankind. No doubt, almost every part of the human body can now be replaced by cybernetic implants (thanks to emerging technology).

But do you know the resultant effect of this cybernetic augmentation in respect to age defying? Okay let's look at it this way: As humans age, the organs in the body get degenerated as an effect of senescence. Now, with the possibilities of bionic/cybernetic augmentations, these natural organs can be replaced (or augmented) with artificial ones, thereby reversing the degenerative effect of the organ on the entire body.

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Take look at this scenario: We may have heard of the man; Stan Larkin, he was diagnosed of cardiomyopathy, which resulted in the surgical removal of his heart, and was replaced with prosthesis. He lived with this prosthesis for 18months (doing his normal activities) until a matching donor was found for him. Now, if this is possible, how would it not be possible to replace other degenerative organs with a bionic one in the future? Remember this; the future is now here.

Maybe in the future, we could get to a point where technology can replace every biological organ in the body (yes! including the brain). No doubt, these human enhancements could potentially extend the upper age limit of humans indefinitely. Also, in the not-so-far future, we could see the rise of many cyborgs (Cybernetic Organisms) and fewer un-augmented organic humans. Believe me, a point could approach in the future where bionics; which were earlier seen as therapeutic aid for lost or dysfunctional body part; would be willingly subscribed by many in the bid to extend lifespan and stop or reverse the process of senescence. Just like I've said before:

The future would favour technology over biology

2. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology

Tweaking of the human gene has been made possible, and more so, the advent of advanced powerful gene editing tool; CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat) has further made this possible. We have seen amazing feats achieved in the field of genetic engineering, that even human embryo has been edited at the gene level; as exemplified in the case cited here.

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According to one of the co-inventors of the CRISPR; Professor George Church, it was indicated that the gene therapy holds a very great possibility in the extension of human age. He also went further to make a witty prediction that he would cure aging before the next 6 decades. A particular statement caught my attention, and I would like to paraphrase it here:

... Gene therapy is not just for curing of rare genetic disorders, but for curing aging too. - Prof Church

How adorable is the fact that "aging" has now been considered as a disease. Okay here's the thing: Unlike the technological advancements to cure aging, the biological advances are grossly unpredictable. Even though the totality of the information needed by humankind to genetically cure aging could be embedded within our genome, but these are not like some kind of storybooks you can just open and grab any info you so desire (in other words, they are majorly encrypted).

Well, maybe in the future, we could decrypt these infos. But another proposition has arisen, and this is the combination of cybernetic augmentation and genetic engineering. Okay, this could sound like some bunch of sci-fi tales, but again; I welcome you to the possibilities embedded in emerging technology.

Have you ever heard of the term Human+ (H+)? Okay these are otherwise known as the enhanced humans. Think about further tweaking of the cybernetic humans with genetic engineering. Now we could be closer than you think to curing aging.

I know some could be wondering how possible this is. Okay the point is this: Scientists can genetically deactivate the gene responsible for senescence, then with an added cybernetic augmentation to boost the organs susceptible to the effect of senescence. I know this would sound like bullshit to the uninitiated, but I would leave you with this quote from Francis Collins:

We are just few years away from achieving immortality... The trials to prolong human life are underway. - Francis Collins [paraphrased by me]

Conclusion

As one of the earnest desires of mankind is to live a little longer, discoveries have been made to that effect. And all these are pointers to the fact that the boundaries set by biology can be crossed. Maybe sooner than later, we could finally "cure" aging and achieve immortality.