Scientists take a step closer to an elixir of youth with "IMMORTAL CELLS"

Scientists take a step closer to an elixir of youth with "IMMORTAL CELLS"

www.telegraph.co.uk

Researchers believe boosting the amount of a naturally forming enzyme in the body could prevent cells dying and so lead to extended, healthier, lifespans.

The protein telomerase helps maintain the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes which act like the ends of shoelaces and stop them unravelling.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Just imagine if scientists figure out a way to do this... i mean, how hard is it to stop ageing, really?

More from source:

"You can delay the ageing of mice and increase their lifespan," she said.

"(But)I think it is very hard to extrapolate data from mouse ageing to human ageing."

One of the problems with boosting telomerase is that it can increase the risk of cancer.

www.telegraph.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)

MWAhahah. I'm one step closer to immortality. HAHA [lightning]

This stuff is absolutely fascinating.

I prefer to live my life .. die and my life force will do what ever it wants after.
\
I surely wouldn't want to live forever on this hellish planet.

I'm glad they're aiming for extending life and the quality of it and not going for pure immortality. Scary. Who would want to live forever?

Originally posted by InterestedObserver
I'm glad they're aiming for extending life and the quality of it and not going for pure immortality. Scary. Who would want to live forever?

Why would anyone want to DIE?

Tell me, friend.

Originally posted by Cio88
I prefer to live my life .. die and my life force will do what ever it wants after.
\
I surely wouldn't want to live forever on this hellish planet.

instead of dealing with patching up the telomerase...

why don't they just find a way to seamlessly link one end of the DNA molecule in the chromosome to the other.

then there would be no "end" to "fray"...
no place where breakdown could start.

that should be the next step.

-

Can I just live a normal lifespan and merely skip the "getting old, frail, and feeble-minded" part?

Call me crazy, but I'd rather be 60 and still performing certain tasks like Tommy Lee (I mean singing.. honestly) than be 1,000, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with a planet full of people older than Moses, and wondering where the heck I put my dentures down half a century ago.

reply to post by mattifikation

Can I just live a normal lifespan and merely skip the "getting old, frail, and feeble-minded" part?

So you'd wanna live in perfect health till your 90 and then what? Get shot? If you couldn't handle standing in front of a firing squad now, you wont if your 80 and in perfect health.

Personally, immortality wouldn't be a horrible thing if you lived your life year by year and not thinking about the distant future. Thinking to far ahead is a pointless exercise after all.

[edit on 23/11/2008 by Good Wolf]

Im a believer that death is not the end.

Why does death scare everyone? I know that we can only find out, when it's our time, but do you honestly think that when your dead ... that it? Blackness ... nothingness?

People tend to fear what they dont understand. To manipulate DNA in anyway could be our worst creation.

this idea has been around for at least ten years or so. my senior year of highschool i did a research paper on telomerase where i posited that you could use nanobots to fix or increase the amount present to stop or reverse aging. it will be exciting if they are able to do something like that in the near future. i would enjoy a couple hundred years extra to learn about all the things i'm interested in detail, and having the time to use that knowledge. Or exploring the world and/or solar system(depending upon advances in those fields).

reply to post by Cio88


On the contrary. I think that the willingness to believe in life after death minus evidence is because of fear of nothingness, true death.

Im a believer that death is not the end.

Then imortality should not be a big deal, what's the diff if life goes on after death?

reply to post by mattifikation


Clinical immortality and maintaining a perpetual youthful state are pretty much synonymous ideas right now

[edit on 23-11-2008 by Lucid Lunacy]

Originally posted by InterestedObserver
I'm glad they're aiming for extending life and the quality of it and not going for pure immortality. Scary. Who would want to live forever?

Probably the same people that do not want to die forever!

Originally posted by Cio88
Im a believer that death is not the end.

Why does death scare everyone? I know that we can only find out, when it's our time, but do you honestly think that when your dead ... that it? Blackness ... nothingness?

People tend to fear what they dont understand. To manipulate DNA in anyway could be our worst creation.

Same here, im really not scared of what death brings. I mean, i am 'scared' for the people who are hurt by my loss, i would be scared if i die some tortured death, but what comes after and death itself... doesnt scare me, I know theres more.

reply to post by logician magician


In order to truly appreciate life one must first come close to meeting death. I can't wait till i die, as odd as that sounds. Not suicidal in any one, it'll come on it's own due time, i love the life i live and live the life i love but death is so much more intriguing. Beside, this entire scientific field should be looked at as the preservation or extension of life, not an aim/step to immortality.

And i love this hellish planet, it needs help, but doesn't everything/everyone? That's what makes it great, make this world your own world

Originally posted by Cio88
I prefer to live my life .. die and my life force will do what ever it wants after.
\
I surely wouldn't want to live forever on this hellish planet.

You don't know that though.
You haven't been dead yet.
It might be worse.
This is the next frontier cell science.
Im sure we could have saved millions of lives 20 years ago if it wasn't held back by the control grid of money and religion.
Making someone immortal is not the direction we need to be going.
But saving a 6yo's life who has not even begun yet and who has cancer or some other horrible terminal illness is the direction.

Does it make sense why they would stop stem cell research using religious protesters considering we could all live longer?

But I should point out, no amount of cell strengthening dna splicing and elixir drinking will stop a 6 mile wide 1.5 mile high shaped rock pulverizing you aswell as the entire planet. enjoy!

reply to post by KKinsane

But I should point out, no amount of cell strengthening dna splicing and elixir drinking will stop a 6 mile wide 1.5 mile high shaped rock pulverizing you aswell as the entire planet. enjoy!

No that's the responsibility of cutting edge physics and cosmology to something about.