• Question: Will scientists be able to make people have significantly longer lives?

    Asked by 362erbb34 to Hephzi, Imogen, Jen, Jennifer, Tom on 17 Mar 2015.
    • Photo: Thomas Barrett

      Thomas Barrett answered on 17 Mar 2015:


      Well our lifespan has more than doubled on average since Medieval Britain. This is mainly due to advances in medicine and quality of living, so better diet and sanitation (toilets and sewers etc.)

      We are also looking at how and why our cells age. Things like the immortal jellyfish (yes it is immortal! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_dohrnii ) can basically turn themselves back into a child and grow all over again. As our understanding of this, how our diet affects how we age and all sorts of things improve we will see people living longer. Treating cancer now (at least some of them) is routine and simple if caught early whereas before would have been difficult and risky.

      I haven’t even started talking about using machines or nanotechnology or bionics to replace old/damaged parts of the body.

      So yes I think we will be able to get people to live for quite a long time.

      Fun fact: Scientists already think that the first person to live till 200 is alive today! It could even be you! 🙂

      Look here for more details:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy

    • Photo: Jen Machin

      Jen Machin answered on 18 Mar 2015:


      To a point, yes! At the moment when we get very old, we’re a lot more likely to become ill. Luckily now, we have medication to stop this happening, and better treatments in case people still become poorly. People are working on these all the time, so in the future, we will probably be able to treat a lot of illnesses that we’re not very good at treating now (like Alzheimer’s Disease).

      If people start living for a very long time (like 200 years) then there will be lots more people on the planet! So we will have to also get better at producing more food and energy (hopefully green energy) and finding spaces for everyone to live 🙂

    • Photo: Hephzi Tagoe

      Hephzi Tagoe answered on 18 Mar 2015:


      It’s very possible but whether or not it’s ethically right is the question. I believe it’s best to let nature take it’s course. Obviously this is different in cases where medical intervention is required for younger people to have a life but I don’t think we should meddle with old age.

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