When will (nano) tech allow us to live forever

[omega3]

I remember a ZDNET newsletter i received back in1999 which basically explained that if tech would be evolved enough to repair the cells in our body at the nano-level, that in theorie we could live forever or at least much longer.

With all kinds of technology out there, where do we stand right now with this? When will we be able to start repairing cells to keep us young or even reverse the aging process? Is nanotechnology by the way the leading science in this or what to look out for and when to expect it?

Hope this becomes an interesting discussion as i am not up to speed with the latest developments in this field.

 

[shortylickens]

WOW! Thats crazy! I'm having a Deja Vu moment here!
Either that or this thread keeps popping up all the time.

 

[J.Wilkins]

I remember a ZDNET newsletter i received back in1999 which basically explained that if tech would be evolved enough to repair the cells in our body at the nano-level, that in theorie we could forever or at least much longer.

With all kinds of technology out there, where do we stand right now with this? When will we be able to start repairing cells to keep us young or even reverse the aging process? Is nanotechnology by the way the leading science in this or what to look out for and when to expect it?

Hope this becomes an interesting discussion as i am not up to speed with the latest developments in this field.

Well, we stand on the point where this technology won't be feasible for any time. You see cellular degeneration is programmed into our DNA because DNA is not a perfect replicator, you'd need to replace the entire human being with nothing but technology.

A much more feasible way to solve the problem would be to enhance the replicating process and avoid some of the degeneration.

If I may muse for a second I would design an infection using grown stem cells (not necessarily yours) to prolong life. There are testing on doing just that but it's involving actual temporal changes that would not suit the idea for a whole organism.

Weird thing about this is that just under eating and thus promote cell death seems to enhance the replicating process. Antioxidants really have no greater effect on humans beyond stimulating cell growth so those that are avoidable should be avoided as much as possible since they do prevent cellular oxidization.

 

[omega3]

What about this article: https://www.computerworld.com/artic...e-humans-immortal-by-2040--futurist-says.html

Being immortal by 2040 seems a bit optimistic but the idea to have repair bots running through your body doesn't seem weird to me to start repairing and maybe even reversing certain cell functions.

What do you think?

Any other invention that may dramatically extend our life in coming decenia?

 

[J.Wilkins]

What about this article: https://www.computerworld.com/artic...e-humans-immortal-by-2040--futurist-says.html

Being immortal by 2040 seems a bit optimistic but the idea to have repair bots running through your body doesn't seem weird to me to start repairing and maybe even reversing certain cell functions.

What do you think?

Any other invention that may dramatically extend our life in coming decenia?

What do I say about that? I say that it's silly.

The man has no understanding of basic molecular biology and if you don't have that you don't have a hope in hell of even comprehending how this could possibly work.

I consider him a joke.

Now, don't get me wrong on this, we HAVE actual means to replace DNA in cells but why on earth would we use nano technology when a virus actually does this as it's base function.

This is how we treat cancer in some ways, the virus attaches to cells and injects it's own strands of DNA, that is how viruses work.

Cell functions depend on it's ability to program RNA, we can deal with that, it doesn't change the process though and no nanobots or anything like that can do it either.

I would say they have it figured out by the time we have replaced humans with technology and I'm not being facetious here, I cannot see any other possible way to do it.

Truth be told, if I found a way for humans to extend their lives by even 20 years I'd destroy the evidence and let it go, there is no purpose in living beyond your natural years other than selfishness.

 

[omega3]

If i could live a thousand years in good health, I absolutely would have more time to not just do things for myself but also others, so I don't think that's selfish and people could still terminate their life if they wanted to.

On topic, so are you saying that neither nanobots or a designed virus could do some kind of cell repair? Then what could work in the nearby future?

Second, I would also be OK if I could put my consciousness and memory in a robot, providing that "robot body" would look like a human body and allow to smell, touch, have sex etc like a human body. Is there any progress in that direction. So basically replacing our body.

 

[J.Wilkins]

If i could live a thousand years in good health, I absolutely would have more time to not just do things for myself but also others, so I don't think that's selfish and people could still terminate their life if they wanted to.

You do realize that the exponential growth would overpopulate this planet in a year? Still not selfish?

Also, I have a feeling you are a young lad. I'm 61 and trust me, when you are my age you are bored with most things, at least if you are smart enough to be bored.

On topic, so are you saying that neither nanobots or a designed virus could do some kind of cell repair? Then what could work in the nearby future?

Second, I would also be OK if I could put my consciousness and memory in a robot, providing that "robot body" would look like a human body and allow to smell, touch, have sex etc like a human body. Is there any progress in that direction. So basically replacing our body.

No it is not possible to do that since cells per definition need to die, what you can possibly do is to enhance replication of cells through speeding up the process or inject DNA structures that are better at RNA programming to make new cells. It IS possible to do this but on the scale of an entire human being? No, I don't think that is possible. nanobots couldn't fix it because they don't have the neccessary properties, you'd need to replace yourself with nano technology.

It MIGHT be possible to grow a similar brain and then transfer the neural patterns to make a new you but not for a long time, even then, when you've lived your life there are very few that would even want the option, most of us old guys are fine with our mortality. We did what we set out to do and if you haven't, get to it because the chances of any technology arising in any field to give you much more time in your life is zero.

Live, love, get kids, grow old, get grandkids... slumber one night and disappear from reality... A life well lived is worth a thousand spent on fearing the end of it.

 

[JSt0rm]

eternity runs in two directions. I was pretty good at it before and ill be good at it after.

 

[Jaskalas]

Age is simply the accumulation of damage. It can be repaired, aging can be cured. I look forward to the day, and the potential for it in our life times.

 

[J.Wilkins]

Age is simply the accumulation of damage. It can be repaired, aging can be cured. I look forward to the day, and the potential for it in our life times.

No, that is the thing, we might slow down the ageing process by accelerating it (which seems counter intuitive but all evidence shows that speeding up cell death increases cellular reproduction accuracy).

That is what this is all about, we age not because of lack of reproduction or because we fail to keep cells young, we age because of imperfect replication and things that we previously thought were beneficial (like antioxidants) are actually counter productive in that they preserve old cells rather than increase cell renewal. The DNA will age no matter what so doing that just means that you are prolonging the life of dying cells and this in and of itself can be a horrid idea.

We already know that high amounts of antioxidants lead to muscle and joint weakness in the elderly, the process of oxidization is natural and to combat it is unnatural.

It is continuously repaired, imperfectly and you cannot fix that without DNA replacement and even then, it would take replacing the entirety of you since new introduced genes adapt to the state of the organism.

 

[Jaskalas]

It is continuously repaired, imperfectly and you cannot fix that without...

The tech is imperfect and infantile today, but we WILL get there.

 

[J.Wilkins]

The tech is imperfect and infantile today, but we WILL get there.

I'm speaking about cells, cells are continuously repaired and replaced, the technology cannot repair cells no matter what since it would require more nanobots than genes which would make you a collection of nanobots rather than a human being and they'd still need genetic material which would then take up the nanobot + material.

Some things are not a matter of technology, it's a matter of physics as it applies to biology.

Read the entire post in the future or even better the entire chain of posts, I've already explained this three times before.

 

[kennyreid95]

I want to die in the year 2095.

 

[omega3]

I want to die in the year 2095.

Why then?

 

[kennyreid95]

Why then?

Because Living Life forever would be torture that's just my perspective on Life.

 

[woolfe9998]

Because Living Life forever would be torture that's just my perspective on Life.

Why not in 2094 or 2096?

 

[Mai72]

Why are people so worried about death? Death is just as important as being born. I wouldn't want to live forever and could you imagine the impact it would have on our planet? We have enough issues now. Western societys view on death is negative IMO.

Alan Watts on death.

https://youtu.be/qK1BJkBJdtY

 

[mikeymikec]

When someone with 'omega' in their username wants to talk about living forever

 

[IntelUser2000]

What do I say about that? I say that it's silly.

The man has no understanding of basic molecular biology and if you don't have that you don't have a hope in hell of even comprehending how this could possibly work.

It happens a lot nowadays. I believe its due to the "disconnect" that exists between the real, physical world we live in, and what we can imagine in our brain.

While our imaginations are limited mostly to the things we learned and experienced, in there we can do far more things than are actually possible to do.

We can reach a point where we convince ourselves by our imaginations to a degree where it becomes a when, not if, even though the reality may never allow that to happen. For what its worth, for those folks the things in their brain might as well be a reality to them, and it drives them to live their lives and continue to pursue the things they dream.

But that doesn't change the reality. Let them live their dreams though.

 

[omega3]

Do scientists already know what defines our conscience in our body? If so, I wouldn't mind when getting older to have it placed on a "robot body" until tech is advanced enough to make that robot body look and function like a real body.

I really wish I could live as long as I want to and decide myself when to end it. My only condition would be to do it in good health ofcourse.

In regards to life extension, is nanotechnology our best bet for now or what other technologies are most promising?

 

[William Gaatjes]

Well, we stand on the point where this technology won't be feasible for any time. You see cellular degeneration is programmed into our DNA because DNA is not a perfect replicator, you'd need to replace the entire human being with nothing but technology.

A much more feasible way to solve the problem would be to enhance the replicating process and avoid some of the degeneration.

If I may muse for a second I would design an infection using grown stem cells (not necessarily yours) to prolong life. There are testing on doing just that but it's involving actual temporal changes that would not suit the idea for a whole organism.

Weird thing about this is that just under eating and thus promote cell death seems to enhance the replicating process. Antioxidants really have no greater effect on humans beyond stimulating cell growth so those that are avoidable should be avoided as much as possible since they do prevent cellular oxidization.

When you eat more, you expose the system to more uncertainties. It is pure physics and quantum mechanics.
Our entire digestive system is constantly being monitored and repaired / renewed because of the damage food consumption causes.
Our way of getting supplies to the cells is far from perfect but it works quite well.
It also does not help that the thymus is shrinking shortly after birth.
Our bodies are epigenetic parts of nature and not isolated systems.

If we want to live longer we need to start from scratch. And that is not viable for a long time, if ever.

 

[OCNewbie]

Relevant, I think:

"How we can finally win the fight against aging"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvWtSUdOWVI

 

[inachu]

Just imagine nano bots in your blood stream working 24/7 to give you the vitamins you need and clearing out your clogged arteries and doing other repair work to your body and when they have over population then they just exit your body and die off.