Companies such as Google are now investing millions of dollars into the study of eternal life. Along with the breakthroughs, scientists have encountered some challenges. For thousands of years, people have been fascinated by the idea of becoming immortal. People have been searching for an elixir or a cure to extend life for centuries. It is because the idea of living forever has such a strong case against the fear of death.
We want to share what is happening in science in the search to become immortal and give you an outlook on the possibility of living forever.
What Is Immortality?
The Oxford Dictionary defines immortality. But how can this be understood, and what does immortality mean? Immortal cell lines already exist if we describe immortality in a physical sense. This is not to say that humans will become immortal as physical beings. If we consider immortality to be our thoughts, personalities, and ideas, there are currently initiatives underway to achieve this in some form by 2045.
Ongoing Research
The concept of immortality is so appealing that modern science and medicine may bring us as close to coming up with a solution as ever.
For example, scientists at Northwestern University in the United States discovered how to turn off the “genetic switch” that triggers aging. But his is not in humans yet, just in worms. Of course, going from worms to humans is a large step. But this method is already a great achievement.
Another achievement was reviving old mice by infusing blood from young mice. Researchers believe that this technique may also be used on humans.
Silicon Valley is also involved in this science. And we have some big names on our standing behind the research.
Worldwide Contribution
A large sum of money is being put forward to become immortal research, and many celebrities are contributing:
- Larry Ellison: One of the world’s five richest men and one of Oracle’s owners
- Sergey Brin: Co-founder of Google and the Calico foundation, which encourages health, wellbeing, and longevity
- Aubrey de Grey: A scientist and researcher who produced multiple regenerative medicine studies
These celebrities have confessed to being afraid of Aging and death. And they are now investing in seeking solutions to what seems to be an “inevitable” outcome.
7 Deadly SENS
Aubrey de Grey, a scientist and the author of Ending Aging (2007), works on methods to exclude death from our genes. He is currently working on the “7 deadly SENS” – things that induce aging on a cellular level – which are as follows:
- Nuclear mutations/Epimutations. Cancer-causing mutations.
- Mitochondrial Mutations. Mitochondria are components of our cells that are important for energy production.
- Intracellular Junk. Proteins that our cells do not properly “digest
- Extracellular Junk. Proteins that have accumulated outside of cells. For example, in Alzheimer’s patient’s brains.
- Cell Loss. The body’s inability to regenerate cells.
- Cell Senescence. Cell senescence is the loss of a cell’s ability to divide.
- Extracellular Crosslinks. Extracellular crosslinks are responsible for the loss of elasticity in cells and tissues.
Modern Science To Become Immortal and 5 Ways To Achieve It
To this day, the idea of becoming immortal captivates us. We have many science fictions to imagine how it could turn out – movies, TV shows, books, and scientific papers provide an enormous amount of information.
“I can see immortality coming from the biological field,” says Wolfgang Fink, a researcher at the University of Arizona.” He also says, “By preventing cell death and aging, preserving it by cryogenic methods or donors, we can increase their natural lifespan.”
Here Are The Five Methods Scientists Believe Can Lead To Immortality:
- Unlocking gene power. By unraveling the mysteries of genes, scientists might be able to discover and “implant” a “immortality gene.”
- Cloning. The removal of parts of the body or the creation of an entire human being. Cloning is considered to be the most advanced branch of immortality study.
- Cryogenics. This is more of a science of preserving organisms. It will assist patients in “falling into cryogenic sleep” before their illness is resolved.
- Cyber brain. Though your body can eventually die, your mind can be stored on a hard disk and will never die. Its key “player” is a project called Russia-2045, which claims to be capable of accomplishing this in just 17 years.
- Cellular repairs. As nanotechnology advances, it is likely that nanorobots will soon perform all of our bodily modifications and treatments. They might also be able to replace dying cells with younger ones or cure them completely.
Eternal Life Through Meditation?
Although what scientists are dealing with always reminds us of science fiction, let’s return to what’s going on Earth.
Dashi-Dorzho Itigilov, have you heard of him? Born in 1852, he was a Buryat Buddhist lama. And, rather than being dead, he is still believed to be in a meditative state. It’s all because of the way he died. While sitting in the lotus pose, he advised his fellow monks to begin meditation and funeral rites, saying he would soon pass away. He never “woke up” from this meditation. And he remains in the lotus pose to this day, seemingly immune to any signs of decay. People believe he is hibernating or in a nirvana-like state.
Maybe meditation won’t grant us all eternal life. But here are some of the benefits of meditation:
- A release of endorphins
- Stress reduction
- Sleep improvement
- Pain relief
- Lowering of blood pressure
All of the above factors can help you live a longer life.
Biohackers take a unique approach to the issue of longevity. They use their knowledge of neuromediators and genes to live longer and perform better in their bodies.
The Centenarians
Several men and women have led long lives over the years. Here are a few examples:
- Jeanne Calment (1875-1997) lived a long life of 122 years and 164 days.
- Shigechiyo Izumi (1865-1986) lived for a total of 120 years and 237 days.
- Sarah DeRemer (Clark) Knauss (1880-1999) was born in 1880 and lived for 119 years and 97 days.
- Lucy (Terrell) Hannah (1875-1993) was born in 1875 and lived for 117 years and 248 days.
- Marie Louse Febronie (Chasse) Meilleur lived for 117 years and 230 days.
Some of the living centenarians are vegetarians, while some consume a lot of meat and drink wine. Even some others smoke, eat a lot of sweets, and don’t like to exercise. But they do have one thing in common: they are usually happy and easygoing. And we believe it is something to hold on to as scientists work to discover the secret to become immortal.
The Bottom Line
Even if immortality were possible in the future, there are many reasons why this would be harmful to humankind. These factors include reduced genetic variability, extinction risk due to the finite timeframe of fertile females and human reproduction, and various social, cultural, historical, and economic problems that would eventually occur if people could live forever.
