It seems that one of the major implications suggested by the extreme technological change in our very near future, is the dramatic extension of human lifespans. All around the world scientists and researchers are working on various technologies that will reverse the aging process and extend lifetimes by unbelievable amounts. It has been in the dreams of people since the beginning of human history to be able to cheat death and live extremely long lives. Consider the concept of an after-life that is often seen in the world's religions. Vampires, gods, demigods, angels, and other such tales of mystical creatures reflect this human desire to live much longer then is ordinarily possible. Now in our current age, scientific and technological progress is quickly bringing us to a time when we will live out our ingrained desire for enhance longevity. But many people are asking, what does this mean for our societies?  Many are expressing their concerns that we will lose a large part of our humanity by tampering with the natural aging process. And some people just simply don't believe that we will ever be able to understand the human body enough to radically alter the ageing process, let alone in harness the ability with in the next few decades. It seems to me that these arguments are just an emotional reaction, to hearing/reading about something so profound, and life altering. Evidence is showing up from all around the world that we do understand the human aging process and we will be able to alter that process on a large scale in our very near future.

     I can understand that many of you may find it hard to believe that technologies that more then double human lifespans will be hitting markets in as little as fifteen years. I felt the same way when I first began reading those sorts of predictions several years ago. But as time went by I started to realize that technology is in fact heading in this direction at an astounding rate. Every month or so I read about a new group of researchers and scientists making some big leap forward in one form of technology or another that aims to ultimately extend human life expectancies. I have found that it's not just one or even just a few groups that are developing these technologies. There are huge numbers of people working all over the world on differing forms of lifespan extending technologies. Some of them are using genetic manipulation or gene therapy, some are using chemistry and pharmaceuticals, while others are using the advancing science of nanorobotics. By reverse engineering the human body, scientists are learning what makes us age, and are then working on how to alter that process in a beneficial way.
     Below I have listed just a fraction of the methods being used to greatly extend human longevity and reverse aging. I have listed the following pieces to help give you an idea of the variety of methods currently being researched.

     As you probably already know human aging is not a result of a single process but involves a large variety of changes. Acclaimed longevity scientist Aubrey De Grey describes seven key aging process that encourage senescence, and he has indentified strategies for reversing each one. Below I have listed some of these process with short descriptions.
Mitochondrial Mutation - The accumulation of mutations in the thirteen genes in the mitochondria. (the power plant of the cell)
Cell Loss and Atrophy - The body's tissues have ways to replace worn-out cells, however this ability is strictly limited to certain organs. This can however be altered to apply to other tissues and organs with the deployment of therapeutic cloning of our own cells.
Toxic Cells - Sometimes cells reach a state in which they're not cancerous, but it is still best for the body if these cells did not survive.  Process are being developed to help the body identify these toxins and destroy them.
DNA Mutations - Most mutations to the DNA in the chromosomes of a cell's nucleus are quickly eliminated. But the type of mutation this is of concern is one that affects orderly cellular reproduction, resulting in cancer. De Gray has as strategy that involves using gene therapy to remove the genes that cancers need to turn on, from all of the body's cells. This will stop cancers before they can cause any kind of harm to the body.
Intercellular Aggregates - Toxins are produced both inside and outside of cells.  These toxins will overtime damage the cell and impair it's ability to function and will eventually kill it. However, there are proteins that have been identified that can destroy almost any form of toxin, using bacteria that can digest and destroy dangerous materials.
Extracellular Aggregates - AGEs result from undesirable cross-linking of useful molecules as a side effect of excess sugar. These cross-links interfere with the normal functioning of proteins and are key contributors to the ageing process. A drug has been developed called ALT-711 that can dissolve these cross-link. - The Singularity is Near, 2004

     "A compound used in humans to prevent rejection of organ transplants can significantly extend the lifespan of mice. Writing in the journal Nature, researchers describe their work with the compound rapamycin, a bacterial product originally found in a soil sample from Rapa Nui, or Easter Island. When the compound was administered to elderly mice, the lifespan of the treated mice was increased by 9-14 percent, the researchers say. The research is the first time that a drug has been found to extend the lifespan of normal, healthy mammals. Doctors cautioned that people should not attempt to use the compound in an attempt to extend their own lifespan, as it suppresses the immune system -- but said that the finding could open up new avenues of research in the field of longevity studies." - Broadcasted on NPR's Science Friday, on July 10th 2009, Quote taken from the Science Friday website.

     Evidence has shown that there is a compound present in Red wine and in the skin of grapes that can ward off a variety of conditions related to aging, providing a multitude of things like heart benefits, stronger bones and preventing eye cataracts. This compound is called resveratrol. Scientists are discovering through vast amounts of research and independent studies, that resveratrol can significantly prolong human lifespans. "A natural compound called resveratrol, found in certain red wines, may trick the body into thinking it's getting fewer calories than it actually is -- and you don't need to overindulge to reap the reward. A team of international researchers found that low doses of resveratrol slowed the aging process in middle-aged mice and improved their overall heart health. Specifically, the results observed in the resveratrol-fed mice mimicked those often seen with caloric restriction -- the practice of cutting 20%-30% of calories out of one's typical diet in an effort to improve health and prolong life. Numerous studies have linked caloric restriction to a longer, healthier life." Researchers are currently working on ways to concentrate this compound in the form of a daily supplement pill.  - WebMD  June 6, 2008

     "Cynthia Kenyon of the University of California at San Francisco and her colleagues perturbed genes in C. elegans  (A kind of small worm) that affect the activity of insulin and removed gonad tissue, which affects endocrine hormone levels. Worms treated this way lived six times longer than normal worms and remained active for most of their lives, according to the report. "These life-span extensions, which are the longest mean life-span extensions ever produced in any organism, are particularly intriguing," the team writes, "because the insulin/IGF-1 pathway controls longevity in many species, including mammals."  -Scientific American Oct. 2003

      Nanorobotic implants are also paving the way to enhanced human longevity in various ways. Experts in the field of nanorobotics are saying that the usage of millions (or billions) of advanced medical nanorobots in the blood stream of an individual would have the capability to destroy pathogens, correct DNA errors, repair tissues, destroy or repair mutations, and eliminate toxins. 
     Starting in April 2008 an annual three day medical conference in Quebec Canada focuses on the future implantation of wireless medical nano-machines. The event co-chairs are Nobel-prize-winner Dr. Baruch Blumberg and Dr. Martine Rothblatt, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of United Therapeutics. This annual conference is meant to share information, propose ideas, and prepare the medical community for future methods of treatment. 
     In early 2004 the second volume in the Nanomedicine book series by Robert A. Freitas Jr. was released as a completely free download online. (Biocompatibility) "First published in hardcover by Landes Bioscience in 2003, this comprehensive technical book describes the many possible mechanical, physiological, immunological, cytological, and biochemical responses of the human body to the in vivo introduction of medical nanodevices, especially medical nanorobots. Such advanced nanodevices could quickly eliminate pathogens and cancer cells, conduct molecular repairs of damaged biological structures and restore and maintain the body in a state of youthful health, revolutionizing 21st century medicine." - KurzweilAI.net  May 3, 2004

     "Carbon nanotubes hold many exciting possibilities, some of them in the realm of the human nervous system. Recent research has shown that carbon nanotubes may help re-grow nerve tissue or ferry drugs used to repair damaged neurons associated with disorders such as epilepsy, Parkinson's disease and perhaps even paralysis." A Team of researchers from Brown University have found a way of purifying carbon nanotubes, which then allows them to be used with-in the nervous system. This new method will aid the usage of age degradation reversal and repair techniques.  - Physorg.com   August 27th, 2009

     Take into consideration that your life may very well be two times longer then you have anticipated. This may change your plans a little. If your going to live to be over 160, then you may not be able to retire at 65 as you may have originally planned. Like I said before, I know how this sounds but the evidence points to the probability that, if you are alive today, then you will be alive to bare witness to and even take part in the use of immense life extending technologies. Current estimates point to the wide spread use of these technologies in as little as fifteen years. But, lets be conservative and say that these estimates are ten years off. That's still only twenty five years from now. How old are you? If your reading this article then this probably still applies to you and will defiantly apply to any children you may have. So I strongly suggest taking into consideration that you may live to be much, much older then your family's previous generations. We have come to the point now where there is enough evidence out there for you to begin taking into account that you could live a very long life.
     So, if you were given the choice to double, triple, or quadruple your life expectancy, would you do it? I am surprised to find that there are many people that say 'no,' they wouldn't take that opportunity because it would take away apart of who they are. I find this to much like, the beliefs of the early Native North Americans who wouldn't have their picture taken, because of the fear that their soul would be captured into the picture.  I think that this sort of reaction is an emotional response to a technology that people don't understand and don't believe will work the way it's suppose to. In order to really address the issue, of weather or not one could lose themselves or their humanity by implementing a technology that increases their life expectancy, we must first define what it is that makes a person who they are. To do this I am referencing a short response to a question I wrote a year ago on a blog site called 'Blog Catalog.' I also posted this in an article on thinkersbebo, called "What Am I." The question was "What do you think you were you in a previous life?" I then wrote the following:

  I was one a bunch of tiny pieces of particles riding a massive frozen ball of iron flying through space at 50k miles an hour until I was grabbed by Jupiter's gravity and swung into a ball of rock called Earth. As soon as I had entered Earth's thick atmosphere the frozen ball of iron I was on, grew hotter and hotter until it completely exploded and of all my tiny pieces were scattered in every direction all across the planet.
From there, over time, I have become a part of many things in many places. And over the course of a billion years or so my pieces slowly came back together until this very moment. For this very sort moment of time is the only time my body will be what it is right now. Soon it will lose a skin flake or burn a calorie and the particles within my body will have changed. Every particle in my body has been replaced and exchange a billion times over, thus meaning I am not the same stuff I was a year ago. Every second I am a little different.
Meaning that at one time or another the particles that make up my body, including my brain and the electrical signals being transmitted by it, have probably been a part of everything on this planet and beyond.

     The point I was trying to make is that, all the stuff that makes up our bodies at any given moment will be different then any moment there after. All the material that our bodies are made of is constantly in a state of change. Even right now I am not the exact same makeup of particles as I was when I started writing this article. And chances are that one year ago I was a completely different 'thing,' or conglomerate of particles. So what makes me, me? It cant simply be the stuff that makes up my body. This then means that if I were to physically alter or replace any part of my body in an effort to extend my lifespan, it would have no effect on who I am. The part that I replaced or altered would have been replace at some point in time anyway. But, still the question remains, what makes me, me?

     The conclusion I have come to from this line of questioning is that what makes me, me, is the pattern of information stored in my brain. I am me, and I know that I am me because of the work that my brain is doing at any given moment. This means that even though all the material I am made of is constantly being altered, I remain the same me. So if I were to replace any cell in my body with a synthetic or biologically engineered one, I will continue to be me. This then must also remain true if I were to replace an entire organ or even body part, (like an arm or leg) with a synthetic, presumably enhance one. A person who receives a heart transplant is still the same person after the procedure as they were before, right? So what if I were to replace most of the blood cells in my body with super efficient nanorobotic ones? I would still be regular old human Colin. So what if I were to replace each and every one of my brain cells with better, robotic ones? Most people I have asked would say no, that I would no longer be the same me. That somehow I would loss who I originally was in the process. But how could this be? If what makes me, me is just the information pattern held in my brain, then what does it matter if I replace the hardware? As I explained before, all that hardware is being changed particle by particle, every second of my life anyway. How is this any different then replacing my liver or kidney? What if I just replace one of those 100 billion neurons in my brain with a synthetic one. Would I no longer be me afterwards? People almost always answer with, "Yes, you would be the same person." Well, that's interesting. What if I were to replace one at a time? Or what if I were to replace ten brain cells everyday until I have replace all of them? At what point does it change who I am? What's the threshold? My answer is that there is no threshold. The hardware systems in our bodies absolutely does not dictate who we are. So there is no reason to think that if I were to augment the part of my biology that control the ageing processes would somehow change who and what I am.

     The other augment people make against radical life extension is that, these technologies will have a devastating effect on our civilization, planet, and species from a logistics point of view. If everybody lives extremely long life-times then, when will people retire? What about the effect on social security? The population of the planet is already out of control, if people start living for hundreds of years then we will be in real trouble. The same is true if people stay at a reproductive age for way longer. With a massive increase in population we will have to worry about running out of resources and such. This will result in wars, starvation and poverty.
     All of those practical/logistical problems mentioned are very real, and have been so for quite a while now. As our species spreads out and becomes more advanced, the constraints of our little planet become more apparent. Dwindling resources, increased pollution, destruction of natural environments, increased energy needs, and well, just about everything else you see on the BBC news everyday. We need to deal with all of these things anyway, regardless if humans begin living longer or not. And it has been proven through out our history that we are no good at controlling or limiting our populations. (Considering that the Chinese government has been trying to do so for decades with very little success.)  So solving the logistical problems facing our species, is going to have to be done in some way that doesn't require limiting populations, perhaps by scientific, technological, and common sense means. Populations are going to continue to grow no matter how long people live. Granted, if people live twice as long it does sort of compound the problem, but we cant look at longevity technology as being in a closed system, with no other outside factors. At the same time that human life extension is being implemented on a mass scale, there will also be other technologies coming online that will help to combat the logistical concerns of over population on our planet.
     I do agree that there are some logistical and practical dilemmas that will occur because of these technologies. But, it seems obvious to me that the benefits to lifespan extending technologies far out weigh the negatives presented by these technologies.  Many of the longevity technologies currently in development also have the capably to repair many degenerative disease as well as genetic disorders, and cancers. People born with disabilities will have the opportunity to be healed, along side those who have become disabled later in life. Once the usage of these sort of technologies is widespread the over all population will be much healthier then they are today. Humanity will no longer have to suffer the loss our most intelligent, creative, and beneficial minds to something as simple as the aging process. People will be able to continue to be beneficial to our species for a much longer time period.
     Most people will agree that the older you get, the more knowledge you obtain and the wiser you get. If you were to live twice as long and yet didn't lose any brain capacity over that time, then in all likely hood, you would become a very wise person capable of making well informed decisions. With wide spread longevity, this sort of wise, well informed decision making would in time, reflect a large portion of the world's populations. As a result, we may become a much wiser species, that doesn't repeat the mistakes of the past as often. Perhaps having a lot of older, potentially wiser, people on the planet will help us to solve many of our population related logistical concerns. Lifespan enhancing technologies will prevent the deaths of millions, (over time many more) which in my mind is reason enough to believe that this technology is a good thing. I believe that the development and usage of lifespan extending/age reversing technologies will have a dramatically positive impact on the progression of our species. And that the positive aspects of such technologies will far out weigh any accompanying negative aspects.
 "One of the biggest flaws in the common conception of the future is that the future is something that happens to us, not something we create." - Michael Anissmor

     So I ask you: if you were given the choice to more then double your lifespan, would you do it? Would you really be able to pass up the opportunity to get to the age of 120 and have the memory and learning abilities of a teenager or better, because of the regeneration/revitalization of your brain cells? Imagine the changes in your life plans, if by age 80 you still looked and felt like a 30 year old. These are very real possibilities that will have a direct and dramatic impact on your life plans.

     For more on this topic see: Eternal Life video