Last Updated on Tuesday, 13 July 2010 13:11 Written by Kristie McNealy M.D.

Nanotechnology

Some of the biggest advances in life extension may come from the microscopically small products of nanotechnology.  Nanotechnology is the building of precise structures on an atomic or molecular scale.  Ultimately, scientists hope to build molecular machines or robots that will revolutionize both medicine and manufacturing.

In the field of life extension, theoretical nanotech treatments include chromosome replacement therapy.  In chromosome replacement therapy, a nanofactory would produce perfect new chromosomes based on the patient's own genome.  Special nanorobots carrying these new chromosome sets would be injected into the patient.  They would the travel to cells, extract the exisiting chromosomes and replace them with new copies, effectively eliminating age related DNA damage.

While complex nanorobots are merely theoretical at this point, other nano tecchniques that could impact the  quality of human life are already proven to be useful in animal models.  For instance, a technique called nano neuro knitting has been shown to be effective in helping to repair severed nerves in the brains of mice³.  Proponents of medical nanotechnology believe that medical nanobots capable of extending life will be available by the 2020s.

Caloric Restriction

In order for humans alive today to see the full benefits of life extension science, we need to live long enough to see further advances in the field.  Today, caloric restriction is the most well documented method for increasing lifespan, and it is the only dietary method that has been shown to improve the mean and maximum lifespan of a variety of species, from yeast to dogs.  In fact, in rats, calorie restriction was shown to double life span 70 years ago⁴.

Caloric restriction involves consuming a severely reduced calorie diet while still consuming adequate quantities of vitamins and minerals.  Scientists are currently working to extend their knowledge about caloric restriction to primates.  While we don't yet have proof that caloric restriction will increase the human lifespan, we do know that it lowers cholesterol, fasting glucose, and blood pressure⁵.

While the methods by which caloric restriction increases lifespan are unclear, theories include both increased and decreased oxidative stress, decreased insulin and decreased free radicals.  Regardless of the answer, caloric restriction won't make us immortal, but it just might help us live long enough to see the benefit of other life extension techniques.  Some people are already using calorie restricted diets like  the Okinawa diet and the CRON-diet.

Cryonics/Cryogenics

While most people tend to avoid contemplating their own death, a few people are choosing to use cryonics or cryogenics to preserve their bodies after death.  Although there are no guarantees that cryonics, the process of  warming and then reviving and treating a patient who's body has been preserved at extremely cold temperatures, will ever become a reality, some feel that the cost of cryonics is a small price to pay for the chance to live again in the future.

The purpose behind cryonics is to slow metabolism and the process of decay using extremely low temperatures, in hopes that one day we will discover a way to treat the patient's cause of death.  While people have been cryogenically frozen since the 1960s, no person or mammal has ever been revived from cryogenic temperatures.  One of the many obstacles to successfully using cryogenics is learning how to repair the damage caused by ice crystals formed within cells.  While improving freezing techniques to reduce cell damage is certainly a goal, researchers hope that in the future we will also have the ability to repair damage done by past and present freezing techniques.

Conclusion

Life extension proponents view aging as the ultimate disease and they aim to find a cure.  They feel strongly that this cure will be discovered within our lifetime.  However, life extension is not without controversy.

Many opponents of life extension approach the concept from a religious or philosophical perspective, worrying about the value of life without death, and how a lack of natural death would impact the true meaning of life.  In many ways, this argument falls along religious lines, with people who believe they will be rewarded in the afterlife standing opposed to life extension.  On the other hand, people who are less certain about what happens after death tend to see little harm in enjoying life for as long as possible, in case this life is all we get.  Many on both sides question the religious implications of making humans immortal, and thus god-like.

More practical concerns about life extension include over population.  Life extension proponents point out that as life expectancy has increased, birth rate has naturally decreased.  They also argue as population increases, humans become more efficient, allowing the world to sustain more inhabitants.

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References:

1) Howitz KT, et al. (2003). "Small molecule activators of sirtuins extend Saccharomyces cerevisiae lifespan" (PDF). Nature 425 (6954): 191–196.  doi:10.1038/nature01960

2) Pearson KJ, et al. (2008). "Resveratrol delays age-related deterioration and mimics transcriptional aspects of dietary restriction without extending life span". Cell Metab 8 (2): 157–68. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2008.06.011

3) Ellis-Behnke GH, et al.  (2006). Nano neuro knitting: Peptide nanofiber scaffold for brain repair and axon regeneration with functional return of vision.  PNAS 103 (13): 5054-5059. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0600559103

4) McCay CM, et al. The effect of retarded growth upon length of lifespan and upon ultimate body size. Journal of Nutrition. 1935;10:63–79.

5) Fontana L, et al.  (2004). Long-term calorie restriction is highly effective in reducing the risk for atherosclerosis in humans.  PNAS 101 (17): 6659-6663.  doi: 10.1073/pnas.0308291101

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