What strategies work against death?

For most of human history, death has been a fact of life. People died because they were eaten, had an accident or contracted an infection. In 1950, global life expectancy was 46.5 years. But now that the world is richer and healthier, that’s almost 72 years. Living longer exposes more people to the wear and tear of aging. Unlike our ancestors, we spend little time avoiding predators and instead worry about them succumbing to dementia or simply weakness.

In “Why We Die” Dr. Venki Ramakrishnan wonders whether it is possible to stop the decay of body and mind. Dr. Ramakrishnan is a molecular biologist from Britain who won a Nobel Prize in 2009 for his work on how cells make the proteins that make up human bodies. When these cells suffer chemical damage, for example from toxins, they function poorly and their inherent repair mechanisms deteriorate.

Is our decline inevitable? Dr. Ramakrishnan notes in The Economist that some species, such as jellyfishrespond to injuries or stress by rejuvenating themselves.

Mammals include the naked mole rat on, which is apparently resistant to heart disease and cancer. Can humans learn the secrets of longevity from the mole rat – or from the hydra, a small aquatic creature capable of unlimited self-renewal? Scientists are trying.

The quest to evade death has a long history. More than 2,000 years ago, Qin Shi Huang, a Chinese emperor, ordered a team of envoys to find the Elixir of Life. He died at 49, apparently killed by the potions he dreamed would save him.

Can we become like the Hydra?

Dr. Ramakrishnan examines the therapies. Some could be something. . He cites evidence for the benefits of restricting calorie intake and cautiously mentions the promise of rapamycin, a drug that has the same effects without the need to restrict diet.

But there are many “dubious” companies promoting “outlandish” ideas. He is especially critical about it cryonicsa process in which people are frozen and thawed after death if a cure for their ailments has been found.

Messianic figures who proclaim fantasies about eternal life are also under fire from the Nobel Prize winner. One of them, Aubrey de Grey, claims that the first humans to live to be 1,000 years old have already been born; he promotes what he calls “escape velocity for longevity,” the idea that people can improve their average life expectancy faster than they age and thus never die.

Immortality prophets make a lot of money from rich people who treat life as just another system that can be hacked.

Bryan Johnson, a tech entrepreneur, has spent an estimated $2 million a year on his anti-aging regimen, which until recently included blood transfusions from his teenage son (he has said these provided “no benefits”). Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg share his interest in anti-aging research: “When they were young, they wanted to be rich, and now that they are rich, they want to be young,” writes Dr. Ramakrishnan.

“When they were young they wanted to be rich, and now that they are rich they want to be young,”

There is still a large gap in life expectancy between rich and poor. The new science and longevity business threaten to widen this gap. Dr. Ramakrishnan feels uncomfortable about this. The World Health Organization expects that by 2050 there will be 2 billion people over the age of 60. He predicts increasing problems: overpopulation, dwindling natural resources and fewer workers to support a growing group of retirees.

Ultimately he gives conservative advice. If you strive for a long and healthy life, you need to sleep well, exercise enough and eat moderately, mainly plant-based. For those in favor of bolder interventions, he has a simple message: “Even if we overcome aging, we will die from… wars, viral pandemics or environmental disasters.”

Extending your lifespan may appeal to the imagination, but it could rob your existence of meaning because there is no urgency to make every day count. Perhaps the transience of life is the key to its beauty.