Sunday, January 18, 2015

Longevity Gene

It's interesting to think about living longer. Think about being able to see your children and your children's children grow up and live their life. Who wouldn't want that?
One must think of the adverse effects of living longer before seriously assessing if it truly feasible. The world is already struggling with overpopulation and extending the expected lifespan of people in the developed world would not help solve this issue. With the current amount of resources it would not be beneficial have a population larger than 11 billion, at such a point, resources would become scarce and every war that has ever occurred has been fought over resources.
The second issue that is presented with extended longevity is the issue of who gets the benefit. How would we choose who is able to live longer, would it be a whole societal thing or an option only available to those who can afford it? Additionally, if the entire society is able to access the benefit of living longer would population control protocols, such as limiting births, be implemented and is it ethical to limit births?
Living longer may not be such a bad thing though. If for example humans have to vacate earth in an attempt to find a new habitable planet, it would be highly beneficial to extend people's lives since space travel requires so much time to accomplish.
These are issues that society will eventually face, but for now these possibilities are still just dreams.

Article regarding increasing people's lifespan through use of stem cells
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130131144423.htm

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