How to Live ‘Well beyond 120’

Jan 26 2015

Human beings are always dreaming for the key to eternal youth, life and immortality. Age-related diseases and periods of infirmity have a devastating effect on individuals and society, both emotionally and financially. Today, Silicon Valley in California is at the centre of a wave of enthusiasm for extending the human lifespan. Ambitious companies funded by billionaires and fledgling start-ups alike are increasingly channelling their attentions and funds into scientific research in this area. With advancements in technology and pharmacology, scientists are edging ever closer to discovering the key to slowing the ageing process, and by doing so, achieving longer a lifespan.

The race to 'hack the code' of life

Joon Yun finds the prospect of humans living to 1,000 years enticing and even believable. With his $1m Palo Alto Longevity Prize, the Silicon Valley hedge fund manager is challenging scientists to extend human lifespan beyond its apparent 120-year limit, first by increasing the longevity of mice by 50%. He is willing to invest more money into this ‘moral quest’.

In 2013, Google announced the launch of Calico (California Life Company). Although this biotech company is enshrouded in mystery, it seems to be involved with developing age-defying drugs. Last year, Calico appointed Cynthia Kenyon, a scientist whose prior work involved increasing the lifespan of round ringworm six-fold, and who hopes to apply the findings to humans.

The Human Longevity Inc. project was created by entrepreneur Peter Diamandis and technologist and biologist, Craig Venter in March 2014. The aim is to create an enormous database by 2020 containing 1 million human genome sequences, which the creators foresee will help researchers establish what makes for a longer and healthier life.

“A lot of people spend their last decade of their lives in pain and misery combating disease. I think it is possible to begin to do more about that than we are doing.” says Venter.

Other prominent projects include Russian multi-millionaire Dmitry Itskov's 2045 Initiative: an extraordinary vision to create a digital copy of the human brain which can be transformed into a lifelike low-cost avatar which never ages, and Aubrey de Grey’s SENS Foundation, striving for a world free of age-related diseases.

What the experts say

Scientists disagree on how far the human lifespan can be extended.

Craig Venter is optimistic, arguing that cellular immortality should be possible. But Nir Barzilai, director of the Institute for Ageing Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, is less so. “Based on the biology that we know today, somewhere between 100 and 120 there is a roof in play”, he argued. However, it’s too early for scientists to speculate on just how far human lifespan can be stretched, and how long progress will take.

Other researchers, such as John Troyer, at the Centre for Death and Society at the University of Bath, ask serious questions about the implications and possible outcomes of this research. “What happens if we all live to 100, 110, 120 or beyond? Society will start to look very different.”