(Ten-minute read)

The holy grail that humanity has been looking for in the past millennia the long-awaited immortal human being might be around the corner in not the so distant future.

Yonks ago I read a book ” Denial of Death”.

Ever since when asked the question, what year were you born?  I have replied,  ” I was not born I was created”

Perhaps it’s true: Without a soul, we are just collections of atoms that are little software programmes made up of code.

Think about it.

For the first time in history with technologically enabled genetics (Crisp gene editing), we are well on the way to making biology a programmable medium.

Is it even within the realm of possibility?

Can it be done?

It may happen in about 20 years.

(It’s important to note that radical life extension does not imply immortality. No matter how advanced our medical technologies get, people will always be subject to traumatic deaths and other unforeseen accidents.)

Life extension is definitely a growth industry.

Just look to work being done in regenerative medicine, cellular biology, and genetics.

If you could zoom in and look at the DNA on the tip of one of your chromosomes, what would you see?

You might expect to find genes, or perhaps some DNA sequences involved in gene regulation. Instead, what you’d actually find is a single sequence –TTAGGG – repeated over and over again, hundreds or even thousands of times.

Repetitive regions at the very ends of chromosomes are called telomeres, and they’re found in a wide range of eukaryotic species, from human beings to unicellular protists. Telomeres act as caps that protect the internal regions of the chromosomes, and they’re worn down a small amount in each round of DNA replication.

Telomeres which are bit like the plastic coating found at the tips of shoelaces.

The three main purposes of telomeres are as follows:

• They help arrange each of the 46 chromosomes present in the nucleus of the cell
• They form a protective cap at the ends of chromosomes
• They ensure correct replication of chromosomes during cell division

Humans age when their telomeres get shorter and shorter, and thus their cells lose the ability to reproduce but planarian worms are able to stop the shortening of their telomeres, then we might be able to apply this same method to human beings.

This enzyme is most active during the developmental stages of life and can be found in most sexually reproducing organisms. Unfortunately, this enzyme ceases to exist after the developmental stages and as humans age, their telomeres begin to shorten again.

So if we are able to understand and decode how exactly these telomeres work we can ——– exist forever 

So much for science.

If there was a way to become immortal, it hardly would be available to the entire population. It will probably be only available to a few and if there is an unforeseen breakthrough that will make it available for everyone on Earth, it will not be paradise.

If immortality and regenerative health technology are only available to a few, there will be a separation of humans between rich immortal gods—the 1-per cent—and the rest of us, poor mortals.

If it’s available for everyone, there will have to be a prohibition of reproduction to avoid overpopulation and the destruction of the planet.

If that happens, imagine the consequences of denying ourselves the possibility of having new people on Earth.

What would the point of immortality be?  There would be no purpose. Profoundly boring to live forever. We would risk being tired of literally everything — including life itself?

And that by consequence, we should not even attempt it.

It is the prospect of our demise that gives richness and joy and anguish to each measure of our human experience,

There are many other serious implications for radical life extension.

But given what’s at stake, it’s an issue that’s certainly worth considering.

The future could very well extend our levels of engagement to even new heights (for better or worse).

The future, it would seem, will be anything but dull.

As now one has ever seen soul and immortality is found in the soul, not in the body (yet).

The good news is anyone reading this will not live long enough to know. 

 

All human comments appreciated. All like clicks and abuse chucked in the bin.