Nobel scientist tells us we can live to 150
Advances in molecular science could see average lifespans of 120 years if scientists are to be believed
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
The harsh reality may be that we will struggle to live on this planet at all by the end of the century. Photo: Alamy
The unthinkable is within sight. Those born today have a chance of living to 150, and lifespans of 120 years may well be the norm. Your marriage had better be good if it is to last a century.
"We are not talking about something ridiculously ambitious or unrealistic or visionary," said Dr Elizabeth Blackburn, who won the Nobel Prize in 2009 for research on telomeres and the genetics of ageing.
The great hope is that we can stop the degeneration setting in through advances in molecular science.
Dr Blackburn and her team discovered that telomeres - tiny caps that protect chromosomes, and the DNA within - shorten as we get older. They shorten even faster if we subjected to high stress.
Dr Blackburn and her team discovered that telomeres - tiny caps that protect chromosomes, and the DNA within - shorten as we get older. They shorten even faster if we subjected to high stress.
If we can prevent the damage with an enzyme called telomerase, we can in theory short-circuit the process of cellular ageing and stretch out the lifespan. It has been done with mice.
Dr Blackburn, now head of the Salk Institute in California, said we used to think that many of the diseases of old age were an inexorable fate, but this may not in fact be the case.
"If you look at centenarians, they don't die of common diseases like cardio-vascular, cancer, or diabetes. They mystify their physicians. It looks like a systems failure," she said at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
US Vice President Biden talks with Elizabeth Blackburn, president of The Salk Institute
Once we have conquered the lifestyle diseases one by one, the focus shifts to understanding the very complex genetic make-up of human beings. There is no "magic gene" that can stop ageing, said Dr Blackburn. It is matter of understanding how the whole system fits together.
Her utopia will not be the same world of course. A study by Lynda Gratton from the London Business School found that even if we live to just 100, our lives will be radically different. "If you want to retire with 50pc of your income, and most of us do, you will be working until you are 79 to 82," she said.
"All of our pension schemes are underwater and will look more and more like ponzi schemes.
The UK is still saying that a child born today will live to 85 but this is obviously ridiculous," she said.
We will have to keep learning new things and reinventing ourselves, with third and fourth careers - no easy task when the technology is advancing by leaps and bounds. Ideally it is a extension of middle age - not an extension of old age - but the risks are obvious. The world could become a horrible dystopia where the body outlasts the mind, and cognitive decline lasts longer.
Derek Yach, chief health officer for Vitality in the US, said the harsh reality is that we will struggle to live on this planet at all by the end of the century.
"Climate change is going to get steadily worse. We will have 11 billion people living in a very challenged world," he said.
Sheer heat could lead to "large wipe-outs of the elderly" in parts of the world Photo: Alamy
Flooding will swamp farmland. Arable acreage will fall. There will be 3bn Africans and they will age before they are rich, he said, creating huge strains.
The sheer heat will lead to "large wipe-outs of the elderly" in parts of the world. Indeed, this threshold is already approaching in the Persian Gulf.
A paper by Nature Climate Journal found that the combined heat and humidity - or 'wetbulb' index - recently exceeded the maximum survivable level for human beings. It lasted only a few hours but the report concluded that the region may not be habitable if temperatures keep rising.
So take your pick. I pass these nuggets on from the halls of Davos without claiming to understand the science of telomeres or cell science.
What we know is that there are now 200 clinical trials on human beings across the world exploring ways to slow the ageing process by means of molecular changes. So if you are under 50 - I am not - there is a good chance that you will live for a very long time yet.
This text has been modified. The telomere trials have been successful with mice.
US Vice President Biden talks with Elizabeth Blackburn, president of The Salk Institute
Once we have conquered the lifestyle diseases one by one, the focus shifts to understanding the very complex genetic make-up of human beings. There is no "magic gene" that can stop ageing, said Dr Blackburn. It is matter of understanding how the whole system fits together.
Her utopia will not be the same world of course. A study by Lynda Gratton from the London Business School found that even if we live to just 100, our lives will be radically different. "If you want to retire with 50pc of your income, and most of us do, you will be working until you are 79 to 82," she said.
"All of our pension schemes are underwater and will look more and more like ponzi schemes.
The UK is still saying that a child born today will live to 85 but this is obviously ridiculous," she said.
We will have to keep learning new things and reinventing ourselves, with third and fourth careers - no easy task when the technology is advancing by leaps and bounds. Ideally it is a extension of middle age - not an extension of old age - but the risks are obvious. The world could become a horrible dystopia where the body outlasts the mind, and cognitive decline lasts longer.
Derek Yach, chief health officer for Vitality in the US, said the harsh reality is that we will struggle to live on this planet at all by the end of the century.
"Climate change is going to get steadily worse. We will have 11 billion people living in a very challenged world," he said.
Sheer heat could lead to "large wipe-outs of the elderly" in parts of the world Photo: Alamy
Flooding will swamp farmland. Arable acreage will fall. There will be 3bn Africans and they will age before they are rich, he said, creating huge strains.
The sheer heat will lead to "large wipe-outs of the elderly" in parts of the world. Indeed, this threshold is already approaching in the Persian Gulf.
A paper by Nature Climate Journal found that the combined heat and humidity - or 'wetbulb' index - recently exceeded the maximum survivable level for human beings. It lasted only a few hours but the report concluded that the region may not be habitable if temperatures keep rising.
So take your pick. I pass these nuggets on from the halls of Davos without claiming to understand the science of telomeres or cell science.
What we know is that there are now 200 clinical trials on human beings across the world exploring ways to slow the ageing process by means of molecular changes. So if you are under 50 - I am not - there is a good chance that you will live for a very long time yet.
This text has been modified. The telomere trials have been successful with mice.
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