This is a concept put forward by American scholar Helfley in 196 1. Human cells generally divide about 50 times, and the division cycle is about 2.4 years.

But can we break through the physiological limit and live longer?

If you ask those "bio-hackers" in Silicon Valley, they will probably swear that they can! Besides, these careerists don't just pay lip service.

"I am not a vampire!" Peter thiel, co-founder of Paypal, defended himself at the annual forum of new york Times on 20 18. He refuted a widely circulated rumor that peter teale fights aging by injecting young people's blood. Although I don't admit to changing blood, I don't shy away from my desire for longevity. He publicly admitted that he was taking growth hormone drugs.

Some people are more radical than him, thinking that gene recombination reagents can break through physiological limitations. Aaron Traywick, CEO of Biomedical Company, once staged a "performance art" at the Biohacker Conference: he took off his pants in public, picked up a thin syringe and injected gene drugs for herpes into his thigh. This is one of the cheap gene drugs developed by its company. Two months later, he was found drowned in a hot spring with many medicine bottles floating around him. The results of forensic investigation showed that the main cause of his drowning was the temporary separation of consciousness and feeling after neurotoxicity. However, many people still believe that his death is related to this injection.

However, this does not affect the pursuit of "immortality" by billionaires from the technology industry like peter teale.

Longevity medicine

"Sometimes aging is also a double-edged sword. It is the body's protective barrier against cancer-when cells encounter potential cancer risks, they will enter aging and stop proliferation, so that cancer will not continue to spread. " Nick Graham, the project leader of the University of Southern California, said that all aging cells should not be eliminated, because it may put people at risk of cancer. Therefore, anti-aging drugs such as Senolytics need to target the elimination of aging cells, so that the original tumor inhibition function of aging cells can be preserved.

3D printed organs and organ transplantation

In addition to the battlefield of cells against aging, futurist Ian Pearson suggested that constantly replacing important organs of the human body may be a good way to achieve longevity. However, the shortage of organs and the difficulty of matching have inspired scientists to study how to use 3D printing technology to print organs from human cells. Prellis Biologics is a company that develops 3D organ printing. At present, it is overcoming the problem of how to make 3D printed cells and tissues survive for a long time. If this technology is mature, the waiting time for organ transplantation will be shortened and the success rate will be improved.

3D printing organ

In addition, xenotransplantation (cultivating new organs in animals and being accepted by human body) is also a solution, but the technology is still in the research and development stage. Xin Kai Bio is a representative company in China. Recently, Japan approved the controversial mixed embryo experiment: animal embryos containing human cells were produced and transplanted into surrogate animals. According to Nature, so far, the embryonic organs of mice used for hybridization are almost completely formed.

Gene sequencing and gene therapy

Accurately describing the true face of aging is one of the ways to solve the mystery of aging, and gene sequencing can be a tool for "description". DNA information can help us live longer, which means that finding the elixir of rejuvenation may no longer be the patent of billionaires, but ordinary people can also enjoy it.

Human longevity is a typical genome sequencing company in the field of anti-aging. It was founded by Peter diamandi, founder of Singularity University, and J Craig Venter, pioneer of genomics. Diamantisz once said in a public speech: "We can measure 654.38 million+human genomes every day, and the number will be 5 million in 2020." In the field of gene sequencing in China, according to Bohorque, investment director of Qingtong Capital, Hyplos has the largest sequencing flux in China and the highest accuracy in the field of ctDNA. At present, its business mainly includes: cancer genetic testing and genetic testing of healthy people.

Escape from aging, but death is still inevitable?

With the development of biotechnology and the continuous research and development of the above-mentioned related companies, perhaps aging will become a bug that can be corrected in the course of life. Ned David, CEO of Unity Biotechnology, said that people have begun to realize that aging is flexible and changeable, and we are entering an era that can safely change the aging process of human beings.

If aging is cured, people's physical condition will be smooth all the way in old age, but is death still a jump on the edge of a cliff?

Futurist Ian Pearson gave an exact time: "As long as you can live to 2050, you have a great chance of eternal life."

So immortality is the ultimate goal of anti-aging? George Mcdonaldchurch, the godfather of genetics, doesn't think so: "If our technology is effective enough, there is no upper limit to human life. But our goal is not here. We hope that people can still be healthy and young in their later years, rather than an elongated aging period. "

The distance between us and immortality

When most people accept the fate of death at the end of their lives, there are always some people who just "refuse to accept their fate." They regard themselves as mice, and almost frantically explore ways to live longer or even surpass death.

First of all, Dave Asprey, the first "biological hacker" in Silicon Valley who leads the trend of scientific and technological health preservation, has upgraded his "health preservation list" in recent years. In addition to adhering to mindfulness meditation and ketogenic diet, he eats 100 servings of nutrients every day, injects body stem cells, regularly receives infrared radiation, and tries to "replenish qi" in the hyperbaric oxygen chamber.

Serge Faguet, an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, has a similar approach. He takes more than 60 tablets every day, including nutritional supplements, antidepressants, hypoglycemic drugs and even illegal drugs. He also injected growth hormone to promote muscle growth. In addition, he also pays attention to maintaining mental health, good sleep, balanced diet, medical examination (blood and genes, etc. ) and reasonable exercise.

"We are (complex) robots, and robots can adjust and improve." Fagate said that his main goal now is to stay healthy and live a long life in order to prepare for the future integration with machines and become a "superman".

Musk's "brain-computer fantasy" is also pushing the distance between human beings and eternal life. Not long ago, Neuralink announced that it has made new progress in the research of brain-computer interface: Neuralink is invasive, and the electrode wires used can prevent brain damage. This may be the advantage that it is different from the previous brain-computer interface scheme. It is reported that Neuralink will first do experiments on high paraplegic patients, but Musk's ambition does not stop there.

Not long ago, he said in a podcast program that this technology will enable human beings to "effectively integrate with AI". He wants the brain-computer interface to exist like a mobile phone, and even invade human life more comprehensively than a mobile phone. So where is the end point after the integration of people and AI?

If the brain-computer interface plan goes well, we will soon be able to "upload ideas". At this time, the immortality of the body is no longer important, because we have achieved digital immortality one step ahead of schedule. But do those thinking codes that wander on the cloud represent you? Perhaps the scene described by George Mcdonaldchurch is easier for us to understand: "In the future, many centenarians will always be full of youthful vitality in their later years, and everyone will not have to endure the pain before death knocks on the door."

"This kind of imagination is not bad."