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Immortality is the concept of eternal life. Some species possess "biological immortality" due to an apparent lack of the Hayflick limit.
Life extension is the concept of extending the human lifespan, either modestly through improvements in medicine or dramatically by increasing the maximum lifespan beyond its generally-settled biological limit of around 125 years. Several researchers in the area, along with "life extensionists", "immortalists", or "longevists", postulate that future breakthroughs in tissue rejuvenation, stem cells, regenerative medicine, molecular repair, gene therapy, pharmaceuticals, and organ replacement will eventually enable humans to have indefinite lifespans through complete rejuvenation to a healthy youthful condition (agerasia). The ethical ramifications, if life extension becomes a possibility, are debated by bioethicists.
Longevity may refer to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas life expectancy is defined statistically as the average number of years remaining at a given age. For example, a population's life expectancy at birth is the same as the average age at death for all people born in the same year.
Maximum life span is a measure of the maximum amount of time one or more members of a population have been observed to survive between birth and death. The term can also denote an estimate of the maximum amount of time that a member of a given species could survive between birth and death, provided circumstances that are optimal to that member's longevity.
Biogerontology is the sub-field of gerontology concerned with the biological aging process, its evolutionary origins, and potential means to intervene in the process. The term "biogerontology" was coined by S. Rattan, and came in regular use with the start of the journal Biogerontology in 2000. It involves interdisciplinary research on the causes, effects, and mechanisms of biological aging. Biogerontologist Leonard Hayflick has said that the natural average lifespan for a human is around 92 years and, if humans do not invent new approaches to treat aging, they will be stuck with this lifespan. James Vaupel has predicted that life expectancy in industrialized countries will reach 100 for children born after the year 2000. Many surveyed biogerontologists have predicted life expectancies of more than three centuries for people born after the year 2100. Other scientists, more controversially, suggest the possibility of unlimited lifespans for those currently living. For example, Aubrey de Grey offers the "tentative timeframe" that with adequate funding of research to develop interventions in aging such as strategies for engineered negligible senescence, "we have a 50/50 chance of developing technology within about 25 to 30 years from now that will, under reasonable assumptions about the rate of subsequent improvements in that technology, allow us to stop people from dying of aging at any age". The idea of this approach is to use presently available technology to extend lifespans of currently living humans long enough for future technological progress to resolve any remaining aging-related issues. This concept has been referred to as longevity escape velocity.
Following is a list of topics related to life extension:
Eternal youth is the concept of human physical immortality free of ageing. The youth referred to is usually meant to be in contrast to the depredations of aging, rather than a specific age of the human lifespan. Eternal youth is common in mythology, and is a popular theme in fiction.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to life extension:
In the life extension movement, longevity escape velocity (LEV), actuarial escape velocity or biological escape velocity is a hypothetical situation in which one's remaining life expectancy is extended longer than the time that is passing. For example, in a given year in which longevity escape velocity would be maintained, medical advances would increase people's remaining life expectancy more than the year that just went by.
Immortality is a common theme in fiction. The concept has been depicted since the Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest known work of fiction. Originally appearing in the domain of mythology, it has later become a recurring element in the genres of horror, science fiction, and fantasy. For most of literary history, the dominant perspective has been that the desire for immortality is misguided, albeit strong; among the posited drawbacks are ennui, loneliness, and social stagnation. This view was challenged in the 20th century by writers such as George Bernard Shaw and Roger Zelazny. Immortality is commonly obtained either from supernatural entities or objects such as the Fountain of Youth or through biological or technological means such as brain transplants.
Pro-aging trance, also known as pro-aging edifice, is a term coined by British author and biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey to describe the broadly positive and fatalistic attitude toward aging in society.
The SENS Research Foundation is a non-profit organization that does research programs and public relations work for the application of regenerative medicine to aging. It was founded in 2009, located in Mountain View, California, US. The organization publishes its reports annually.
Mikhail Batin is a Russian businessman and politician. He is Chairman of the Board of the NGO "Science For Life-Extension".
The anti-aging movement is a social movement devoted to eliminating or reversing aging, or reducing the effects of it. A substantial portion of the attention of the movement is on the possibilities for life extension, but there is also interest in techniques such as cosmetic surgery which ameliorate the effects of aging rather than delay or defeat it.
Maria Entraigues-Abramson is an Argentine-American singer, composer, and actress, and is the Director of Development for the SENS Research Foundation.
Gennady Stolyarov II is an American libertarian and transhumanist writer, actuary, and civil servant known for his book Death is Wrong. Stolyarov also leads two transhumanist political parties.
Laura Deming is a venture capitalist whose work focuses on life extension, and using biological research to reduce or reverse the effects of aging.
BioViva is an American biotechnology gene therapy company, based in Bainbridge Island, Washington, researching treatments to interfere in the aging process in humans.
The Lifespan Extension Advocacy Foundation (LEAF) also known as Lifespan.io is a non-profit organization with mission to support fundamental research on the main mechanisms of aging and age-related diseases and educate the public on the possibility of bringing aging under medical control in order to prevent, postpone and cure age-related diseases. It was founded in 2014 and is based in New York City, New York, USA.
Ilia Stambler is an Israeli researcher and advocate specializing in the historical and social implications of aging and longevity science.
References
- ↑ Macdonald, Andrea (2019-09-06). "James Strole: Advocacy, Education, Awareness About Radical Life Extension". ideaXme. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
- ↑ "People Unlimited Inc". People Unlimited Inc. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
- ↑ "Ageless Education". People Unlimited Inc. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
- ↑ Bardin, Joe (2020-07-20). "The End of Intolerance Comes with the End of Death". Transpire. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
- ↑ "Deathism - H+Pedia". hpluspedia.org. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
- ↑ News, Meaghen Brown published in (2017-10-02). "Meet the Extensionists: People Who Believe Immortality Is Possible". Marie Claire Magazine. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ↑ "Coalition for Radical Life Extension". Coalition for Radical Life Extension. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
- ↑ "RAADfest: Revolution Against Aging and Death | July 10-13, 2025 - Las Vegas". RAADfest. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
- ↑ The Guardian (2019-11-07). Who wants to live forever? | Death Land #1 . Retrieved 2025-01-29– via YouTube.
- ↑ "See You in a Hundred Years, My Dear—Nonfiction by Joseph Bardin—Eclectica Magazine v29n1". www.eclectica.org. Retrieved 2025-01-29.
