Life Extension

If you've ever marveled at the skills of modern scientists, thought about the remarkable fact that each generation of humanity seems to live for longer than the last, and wondered where future science may take the next generation of human life, you've begun exploring life extension and the ideas behind it whether you have realized it or not.

The Immortality Institute, an advocacy and research group for life extension, produced a 105-minute documentary film in 2005 called Exploring Life Extension, which you can view for free at imminst.org. The aim of Exploring Life Extension is to explain the ideas behind life extension, how the science behind exploring life extension possibilities has been responsible for lengthening the healthy lifespan of animals in the past, and what the future holds for those who believe in the potential and significance of exploring life extension.

Exploring Life Extension is comprised of interviews with more than eighty scientists, researchers, futurists, and authors who have spent most, if not all, of their lives exploring life extension possibilities. Topics covered in Exploring Life Extension include calorie restriction, transhumanism and nanotechnology, cryonics (commonly called cryogenics, but that is technically a different science), and other common aspects of striving to delay the onset of old age and degenerative diseases.

In Exploring Life Extension you'll learn about calorie restriction. Thanks to tests done on animal subjects such as monkeys, dogs, rodents, cows, and insects, people who have been exploring life extension possibilities since the 1930s have discovered that creatures who live off of a well-balanced, low-calorie diet live healthier lives for longer periods of time.

By exploring life extension's calorie restriction theory, scientists have agreed that the results are conclusive, although there is some debate as to how exactly calorie restriction works. The prevalent theory is that the body's low intake of calories forces the cells into a defensive state that actually helps the body remain stronger for longer.

Transhumanism involves using nanotechnology to correct and combat the degenerative effects of aging. Those exploring life extension would like not only to give disabled people the chance to move again with artificial and computerized parts to replace any deteriorated or non-operational parts of the body, but to work with stem cells and molecular technology to find a way to prevent the breakdown of a body's structure that starts with aging. Researchers exploring life extension through transhumanism would like to discover a way to create stronger, healthier, and smarter human beings by working with cells.

If you've ever heard about people who arrange to have their bodies cryonically frozen shortly after death and have wondered why they do so, you've been exploring life extension. Cryonics is among the more extreme practices of those who are exploring life extension, but it is reflective of their true belief in the possibility of near-immortality.

Life extension advocates know that current technology does not allow the human body to live a long healthy life for hundreds of years-which is their ultimate goal. However, they believe that future scientists exploring life extension possibilities will one day find the answer and be able to revive frozen people from the past to allow them be cured of a currently terminal disease.

Exploring Life Extension is an excellent starting point for those who need an introduction to the concepts and goals of life extension researchers and advocates. Still, there's nothing stopping you from exploring life extension on your own. Search the Internet for more information on exploring life extension possibilities.