NEWS: Fountain of Youth Discovered

GEEK: Fountain of Youth Discovered

Researchers have found that stimulating a certain gene increases life span by 30% and improves quality of life in what are normally an organism's declining years.

The gene, named Klotho (after the greek goddess who spins the thread of life), has been studied for years. If it's malfunctioning, it causes premature aging. Variations of the gene may be able to tell about how long you're going to live. Manipulating the gene, however, has been shown to have an anti-aging function in mice. The gene is similar in mice and humans, so researchers hope to eventually bring the gene therapy to humans.

The downsides? Klotho-stimulated mice were more prone to diabetes and were less fertile. But hey, they were pretty healthy otherwise, and, most importantly, they weren't dead like other mice were at their age.

Maybe we can get up to Duncan Idaho type life-spans with this stuff.

He forgot about increased traffic from crochety old people driving 15 mph under the limit.

... we get a sandworm-man to roll over on us, and then they clone us again?

hello increased life span! I don't think I'd mind living longer.

With world population as high as it is, do we really need to prolong our lives even longer and overcrowd even more?

less fertility is probably a blessing considering how humans are infesting the planet.

Now we have a dillemma. The animalian desire for genetic proliferation (having children) and the human quality of greed (wanting to liver longer) are going to butt heads. Hopefully people that choose one form of treatment, fertility or Methuselization(sp?), will be prevented from the other, for population reasons.

And we thought Social Secuity was screwed now, imagine when geezers live to be 130 normally. I'm thinking they may need to institute a maximum age for it soon.

[Edited on Aug 27, 2005 1:04PM]

Uh--.... UH--........ UMBRELLA.

This sucks, I was looking forward to "checking out" at 60 or so. Now this shit comes along. I'm sure if it hits the market the ads will make anyone that doesn't take it look like a selfish old douche bag. I can see it now, buy this stuff if you love your family. Good God!

Well, the thing is that as life span increases, so do things like retirement age, and the age that people will have kids.

Hmm... who cares about fertility at that age?

Hook me up.

then I can regret my tattoos even longer!!!!
(dripping sarcasm)

I don't want my life extended. I want immortality. Have they figured that out yet?

Beaten to the punch again. Damn you, sir!

i forgot.. is diabetes good?

I remember reading an article years ago where some geneticists classified aging as an "idiopathic degenerative illness"...meaning, there really was no reasonable explanation why the genetic code began to break down as we aged (causing "aging"...I.E. less resilient skin, poorly functioning organs, ETC.)

It has long been accepted by the ”scientific community” that we would ultimately approach an “infinitely accelerating curve” of lifespan where one generation would, eventually, crack the final element and have the option to live forever. They just didn’t know which generation that would be. Let me be the first “Generation X”er to coin the phrase “Generation Omega.”

I suspect the infertility won’t be an issue. Once you have raised a family of however many kids...you really don’t want “another batch.” I think it has something do to with teenagers. (Definition: Teenager. 1. God’s little plan to encourage you to move your kids out of the house. 2. Explanation of why some animals eat their young.)

Anyone here seen " Soylent Green "? :-)



[Edited on Aug 27, 2005 12:54PM]

Bless you.

I need to work until I am 200 to get a decent pension. Stick the needle in me

Niw all that needs to be done is to make the fundies think its against God's will to manipulate this gene.. and they'll go the way of the dodo..

with that much time to work, you wouldn't need to depend on a pension. The power of compound interest...

this is a neat discovery... and yeah, who cares if they're less fertile in their old age...


there's a reason why Duncan/Conner McLeod cant have kids... cuz they'd KEEP HAVING THEM!

so yeah, that's my two cents.

Sounds like bad news for everyone who took out life insurance plans.


Also, I look and act like I'm 25 when I'm really 19, I think my gene is a little fucked up.


P.S. This is going to fuck up a lot of people's planning.

Edited to say: Especially kids with big inheritances

[Edited on Aug 27, 2005 by One_Pure_Thought]

The other thing is, eventually the boffins would come up with a way around that too.

people should die, and i'd argue most should die sooner than they do, so please stop all this fucking research.

DIE HUMAN RACE, DIE!

you keep fucking with mother nature, she's going to give you all bird flu.