Can Aging be Reversed? Solving the Aging Problem

by Heather Sandison, ND , April 1, 2020

Can Aging be Reversed? Solving the Aging Problem

A transcript for this episode is available online in blog form at Transcript: Aubrey de Grey Interview on Solving the Aging Problem.

Imagine a world where we live to 130, 150 or 500 years old. Anti-aging pioneer, Dr. Aubrey de Grey, joins us to share his confidence in how technology will dramatically extend human lifespan. He joins our host, Heather Sandison, ND, to look at aging as a problem to be solved. In this episode, Dr. Aubrey de Grey offers hope to people looking for cutting-edge therapies to live longer. We discuss:

The predicted timeline for ending aging
Optimizing function vs repairing damage in the body
Why damage repair is key to longevity
High-tech therapies for a longer lifespan: Senolytics, stem cells and more
How our world will be affected by people living longer
Economic benefits of a healthy elderly population
Having respect for the natural world when developing technologies

“Longevity is a side effect of staying healthy.” Aubrey de Grey, PhD

Aging is a complex problem. There is no one thing that will cause us to age backwards. We don’t have the technology to stop aging yet, but with the way the research is going, we might very well be there soon.

Mentioned in this Episode:

Undoing Aging Conference
Intro to SENS Research
Parkinson’s: the main trial that is already underway
Hayflick's Work

Guest Bio:

Dr. Aubrey de Grey is a biomedical gerontologist based in Mountain View, California, USA, and is the Chief Science Officer of SENS Research Foundation, a California-based 501(c)(3) biomedical research charity that performs and funds laboratory research dedicated to combating the aging process. He is also VP of New Technology Discovery at AgeX Therapeutics, a biotechnology startup developing new therapies in the field of biomedical gerontology. In addition, he is Editor-in-Chief of Rejuvenation Research, the world’s highest-impact peer-reviewed journal focused on intervention in aging. He received his BA in computer science and Ph.D. in biology from the University of Cambridge. His research interests encompass the characterization of all the types of self-inflicted cellular and molecular damage that constitute mammalian aging and the design of interventions to repair and/or obviate that damage. Dr. de Grey is a Fellow of both the Gerontological Society of America and the American Aging Association, and sits (uncompensated) on the editorial and scientific advisory boards of numerous journals and organizations. He is a highly sought-after speaker who gives 40-50 invited talks per year at scientific conferences, universities, companies in areas ranging from pharma to life insurance, and to the public.

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4 Comments

Howie Nordström

April 02, 2020
Arrogant. Patronizing. Self-opinionated. I have zero respect for Dr. de Grey.

Dean Sauer

April 02, 2020
Why would you use a title picture 7832 x 4408 pixels, what kind of monitors and internet connections do you think we have?

Jerry Joynson

April 03, 2020
Fascinating idea that we might be able to do what some reptiles already manage to do - stay alive healthily for a very long time. I am now over 50 and I have noticed that many things that I once found thrilling and fascinating are now rather mundane. Having tried many things, thought many thoughts about difficult issues, and experienced how the world has dealt with many problems, I now have a much greater understanding of what to expect and no longer get the same satisfaction from such events that I once did (I am still finding some very interesting and taxing challenges - including how to reduce GHG's). One of the topics covered in tales of immortality is the eventual lack of interest in life. I can imagine that arriving far sooner than 500 years. What then? Do we ask for euthanasia because of terminal boredom?

Alfred Schickentanz

October 28, 2020
This is my idea of the future: IMMORTALITY SYSTEMS I.S. Extra Terrestrial Migration - Gene Engineering Eternal Life Society Migrating to Infinite Space-Time. "We Can Become the Engineers of Our Own Body Chemistry. - In the Right Environment We Can Live Forever" Once we get off the finite surface of the planet earth and are capable of living in potentially infinite orbital space, there is no reason to have a finite lifespan. As engineers of our own body chemistry we can disable the genes that dictate the termination of our lifespan, as scientists have already demonstrated with plants and animals. There is no inherent limit to the "Lebensraum" (living space) in orbital space as there is on our planetary surface. The life span of each organism is determined by the environment to which it has adapted. The new environment will be our imagination which we can only fill if we live forever. We have to be immortal. There is no inherent limit to our imagination as long as there is time and space. The incentive to be a member in good standing in society is the pursuit of immortality. Humankind's social activity, ultimately its urge to mate, is an instinct, just like the instinct to live. If the purpose of society is to protect and enhance the wellbeing of its members, then providing the means to achieve immortality should be one of its highest priorities. The "New World" must provide individuals with access to the experts, the education and the means to achieve immortality. The difference between our present world based on the formation and protection of family, tribe, nation and the "New World" is that the latter must have as its goal the pursuit of individual immortality.