A 2015 article in Scientific American titled “Why Can’t We Live Forever?” by Thomas Kirkwood explores the issue of aging. In it he states:

“We have all grown up with fairly rigid preconceptions about how the body ages. Small wonder that modern science struggles to come to terms with the reality that most of what we thought we knew about aging is wrong. Indeed, for some multi-celled organisms, an absence of aging appears to be the rule. The freshwater hydra, for example, shows an extraordinary power of survival. The hydra apparently does not age, in the sense that as it gets older it shows no increase in death rate or decline in fertility.

Aging is driven by the gradual lifelong accumulation of diverse forms of unrepaired molecular and cellular damage. Cells accumulate damage over time, which ultimately causes some organ or another to become diseased. If bodily functioning is sufficiently compromised, death ensues. We need to focus on figuring out how to safely limit or reverse the buildup of damage that leads eventually to age-related frailty, disability and disease.

Growing evidence suggests that certain genes can influence how long we live. Investigators in many laboratories have found numerous genes capable of increasing life span in some animals.

Aging is complicated. It affects the body at all levels, from molecules to cells to organs. It also involves multiple kinds of molecular and cellular damage. Aging does not stem from a genetic program that specifies how quickly we become frail and die. It may be possible to combat aging by altering important mechanisms that cells use to counteract the buildup of damage. We can hope to identify novel drugs able to combat age-related diseases in completely new ways and thereby shorten the period of chronic illness experienced at the end of life.”

While he suggests that drugs to prevent aging are probably still decades away, there is no inherent program that says we must grow old and die. The body naturally makes trade-offs that help get us to the age of reproduction but hurt us later in life. It may be feasible to influence the way cells self-destruct or stop reproducing in order to limit damage to organs and extend healthy life. This is an interesting avenue of research. There is still much we don’t know, but I am very encouraged just knowing it is possible.