(21.) First Project 2000 Grants to Extend the
Human Lifespan. Unraveling the Mystery of Protein Synthesis; Decrease in Protein Synthesis with Age.
"The
human lifespan has more than doubled, the cost of food has dropped 13-fold, energy has dropped 20-fold, transportation [has dropped] hundreds-of-folds, and communication [has dropped] thousands-of-folds."
The Yiddish blessing Biz a hundert un tsvantsik--"May you reach 120!"--is often used as a birthday wish, like the English "Many happy returns of the day." (The Hebrew equivalent, ad meak v'esrim, though ubiquitous at Israeli birthday celebrations, hasn't caught on as much among American Jews.) Technically, it's a hope that the recipient will be granted the supposedly perfect
human lifespan, achieved by Moses and, according to various post-biblical traditions, Rabbi Akiva and/or Rabbi Hillel.
Willcox and colleagues have studied the genes that seem to regulate the lifespans of organisms such as mice and roundworms, then tried to see whether similar versions of the genes that happen to be present in human beings have similar effects on the
human lifespan.
Even at his quirkiest, Keats notes he always has a serious message to deliver, and in the case of the millennium camera -- a cylindrical device small and light enough to hold in one hand but hopefully durable enough to survive the centuries -- it's encouraging people to think beyond their own
human lifespan to what geologists call deep time.
But what's happening to the
human lifespan is equally dramatic.
On the other hand, looking to expand the average
human lifespan from 78 years to 125 years, Dr William Andrews, Director of Molecular Biology, Geron Corporation, said: "The theoretical lifespan for our study is 125 years.
Whether this was due to lack of healthcare available or climate conditions and large predatory animals is not known but it is too early in the Paleo diet's modern run to see how it affects
human lifespan as proper testing hasn't been done.
Life Extension is dedicated to extending the healthy
human lifespan by providing information that will help individuals delay the aging process utilizing innovative, integrative approaches to disease prevention and treatment.
No positive trait counts as a virtue unless it (i) guides the agent's every action across the length of a natural
human lifespan, (ii) can be expressed in the agent's every action across a natural
human lifespan, and (thereby) (iii) promotes the agent's good across a natural
human lifespan.
Coal and the technologies it spawned made it possible to double
human lifespan, end famine, provide electric light and spare forests.