Who Wants to Live Forever? You.

They say the only certainties in life are death and taxes. We mention taxes merely as a sort of cynical add on: the government taking your hard-earned money away is as certain as death itself (a very right wing sentiment, when you think about it). The one true certainty for any human being is that they have a beginning and and end. But what if we didn't?

This idea has been tossing around in my mind for quite some time. The idea of immortality is expressed in popular culture as well. The Highlanders, Tolkien's Elves, and the vampires of Ann Rice and White Wolf are just some examples: beautiful human-like beings who live through hundreds or even thousands of years. The age-old myth of the "Fountain of Youth" shows humankind's obsession with avoiding the one true innevitability. Few of us can even imagine such a thing, because 70 or 80 years of lifetime already seems an eternity. Its all very romantic, but we've never had to face the impracticalities of immortality because so far its just been a pipe dream. So what if it wasn't?

The reason I'm ending my paragraphs with these annoying hypothetical questions is because this to-do about immortality in the back of my mind has once again been awakened by a development in real science. This month's Discover Magazine included an interview with Structural Biologist Cynthia Kenyon. Back in 1993, Kenyon managed to tweak the genes of Caenorhabditis Elegans, nematode worms, to double their life spans (the worms normally live about 20 days). Recently, she has extended the lives of the worms to 125 days, more than sixfold. "Well, worms are a lot different than humans," any educated person might say. However, initial trials on mice have proved promising, with animals remaining young and healthy right up until their deaths. Kenyon freely admits in the interview that her goal is to create a human anti-aging drug.

It seems almost ironic that lately, our e-mail address at work has been inundated with spam from the so-called "American Society for the Treatment of Aging". The treatment of aging. Aging is a disease, and we're all sick, we NEED treatment. That's the message of today's media.

It seems almost absurd that humanity as a whole can't seem to accept the very nature of its existence. Though this is not a new idea, the fixation of society on youth has grown stronger since the middle of the 20th century. Plastic surgery and face-lifts are cosmetic solutions; the mere appearance of youth having precedent over any actual heath benefits. In the past, age was seen as a sign of wisdom and therefore revered. It doesn't take much more than the abused caricature of Grandpa Simpson to show us how we treat our elderly on today's society. We associate youth with sex appeal, fitness, health, and perhaps most irrationally, the ability to have fun. The less immediately desirable benefits of age are not as easily marketable.

Imagine a world where there's a pill that lets you live six times longer than the average human being does today. 75 is a reasonable average life span, so a sixfold human life span could be more than 450 years. Think about that: someone who was born in 1554, during the renaissance, could have lived to see the 21st century, had they taken this hypothetical drug. They would have seen Bach, Mozart, Newton, Picasso, and Einstein be born, live, and die. My question is, does anyone deserve to live that long? If so, who decides?

This hypothetical pill is probably patented and copyrighted by one of the world's monolithic drug companies. You know, one of those companies that tried to sue some impoverished African nations for buying bootleg versions of their HIV/AIDS pharmaceutical treatments? These are companies that show real ethical fortitude. So when the time comes to sell this drug (and sell it will) the price will no doubt be next to astronomical. Regardless, there are plenty of people in the world who can and will pay it. After all, what's a few thousand dollars if you live for hundreds of years? Meanwhile, the drug is probably inaccessible to the the majority of the world's population. Even if it becomes accessible to the average person in developed countries, it will no doubt be out of the question in regions such as Africa. Regions where the population can barely feed themselves, much less consider drugs that will slow aging or cure their impotence.

So, a century goes by, and we in developed countries are living for hundreds of years, ever youthful and healthy. We look down into the third world like gods on Olympus and say things such as: "They say the average life span there is 50 or 60. Can you imagine that? Living only 60 years?"

I already don't like this world very much. I haven't even touched on the immense overpopulation that would be created in a world where people live several hundred years. Plenty of people still have three or more kids. If they stay youthful throughout their lives, what's to stop them from waking up one day and saying, "Honey, I think I want another baby."

It all comes down to how much power we give to ourselves. Though I'm not generally a God-fearing person, I can't help wondering what faithful persons think of this sort of attempt to make gods of ourselves. If I were such a person, I'd probably say that we're hankering for a good smiting. However, when humans recklessly advance through science without considering consequences or implications, they generally do a pretty good job of smiting themselves. We'll see... if I live long enough.

Related Links:

Cynthia Kenyon Q&A at PBS
"Old Worms, Aging Genes" at Science News Online