THE END OF AGING [engl.]
To exclude the aging process as a cause of death seems to be a dream cherished by humans that is as old as it is unrealizable. And yet there are two facts that indicate it is indeed possible: firstly, we age continuously, but only suffer under this process in the second half of our lives. This means that we do not have to prevent aging as such but solely arrest physical deterioration with molecular and cellular renewal. Secondly, technological advancements take place mostly exponentially, so that they can change completely within a lifespan. Aubrey de Grey presented therapies which shall soon extend life expectancy by up to 30 years and explained how the progression of these therapies will allow us to profit endlessly from their progress – and eventually exclude age-related dying. Following the lecture the theoretical bio-gerontologist discussed these aspects with the medical ethics expert Cornelius Borck.
Aubrey de Grey, British biomedical gerontologist, is chief science officer of the SENS Foundation (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) and editor-in-chief of the high-impact, peer-reviewed academic journal Rejuvenation Research. His research work revolves around the molecular and cellular changes in the human body responsible for the aging process. He claims that it will soon be possible to comprehensively repair this "damage" and thus radically extend the healthy lifespan. He is also cofounder of the Methuselah Foundation, a fellow at the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (IEET), and an advisor to numerous organisations involved in future technology.
Talk in English. www.sens.org
Cornelius Borck is professor and director of the institue for Medicine and History of Science, University of Lübeck. He was associate professor und Canada Research Chair in Philosophy and Language of Medicine an der McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and from 2002 to 2004, he was head of the research group "Life. Media technologies and the sciences of life, "at the Faculty of Media, Bauhaus University Weimar. His research work revolves around the history of biomedical visualization techniques, epistemology of the human-machine relationship, experimental cultures of brain and mind as well as sensory and neural prostheses. www.imgwf.uni-luebeck.de