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I don't know how many of you have heard but a research group has said they have found a key to our genetic code that may allow us to live 500 years.
OH MY what are we gonna do now!
People will tell you where they've gone
They'll tell you where to go
But till you get there yourself you never really know
Where some have found their paradise
Other's just come to harm
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would you *want* to live for 500 years though? it's strange, sometimes i wish that i could really live forever. but then other parts of me don't want to, because as much as i don't want it to happen, the world WILL end. if not by our own hand via wars and chemical weapons and all, then because the planet cannot handle the abuse we lay on it.
i mean look at the screwed up weather patterns already. we can thank the ice caps melting for that. and for *that*, we can thank the hole in the ozone layer we created.
the point is though, is that'd be a strange situation, if they one day cracked it. it could cause pandemonium--those who are afraid of death and dying and want to live forever, doing whatever they can to "get this," (or whatever it is/or how), and then how much the planet would become even more overpopulated than it already is....
maybe not such a great idea, though it's kind of a nice fantasy. for me, anyway, who loved "Tuck Everlasting," because parts of me never want to grow old, or die. 
my void does not want.
-- 2.13.61.
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Do you know if this expansion of life would operate by slowing down the rate at which one ages - i.e. wear and tear - or merely add years to one's existence? I think that if I WANTED to live that long and had to choose between one and the other I would go for the retardation of the aging process. After all, can you imagine surpassing the state at which people who are at or around one hundred years of age exist? I think that would be a rather tiring way to spend an extra four hundred years.
viðrar vel til loftárása
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I agree...I'd only want the extra years if the quality was good, and I could be useful, independent, and comfortable/happy. Being "old" for an extra century doesn't appeal to me at all...I'd rather see what comes next, thanks very much. Of course, that's me talking at 51, with some stuff already beginning to wear out, like my back...hehe
"Always forgive your enemies...nothing annoys them quite so much." Oscar Wilde
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You know, I for one hope to live forever. Then again, that's just the elusive changeling in me speaking out, LOL. I agree with everyone else that has commented on this so far. Living for over the century mark wouldn't be much fun unless your body remains relatively in good shape. I would love to hear that this genetic key, this "immortality gene," was some sort of self-redactive, internal rejuvination gene. Something that keeps your body active and virile long past the life expectancy of our progenetors is something we should pursue.
The only thing that I can see as being a problem with that is that it would mean that our population would be still growing at a increasingly exponential rate while our average age gets older and older. We probably need to seek to regulate the birth rate more strenuously if this gene can be activated. Not saying anything about it from a moral standpoint, but the numbers alone would be staggering if we keep going like this.
It's not the wolf you see you should fear, but all the ones he howls with. Don't be afraid of the song, but don't piss off the choir.
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Good point D'Artagnon...
Not to mention the expense involved. It would likely only be available to the world's richest, who already have so much...more than their fair share, to my way of thinking...
"Always forgive your enemies...nothing annoys them quite so much." Oscar Wilde
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The gene was activated in a worm at this point but seeing as we share genes with so many of the other creatures on earth it seems with a bit of engineering it may be activated in humans.
It seems as we live our cells are replaced on a regular bases and aging is a result of this gene not performing as well as we get older.
I am assuming this means we could not only reverses the aging to what point I don't know... I would hope our peek. But also remain young for this 500 year period. Why only 500 years I don't know! And really we all know it ain't gonna be that simple in humans anyway. We just share this gene with the worm. Hey speaking of worms did you guys know that you see so many worm squrming around after a heavy rain and the ground is saturated with water is cuz they would drown hehehe
I agree with you all though, I am not goin to be able to afford it and Hey do ya think they're gonna allow gays to undergo the procedure 
Ahhh well, the future holds so many unknowns HAHA it makes things a little more intresting ::-)
People will tell you where they've gone
They'll tell you where to go
But till you get there yourself you never really know
Where some have found their paradise
Other's just come to harm
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marc
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Needs to get a life! |
Registered: March 2003
Messages: 4729
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The cellular raplacement happens in all parts of the body except for the brain and spinal column (if I am correct)....
Therefore it seems reasonable to assume that what diseases are brought about due to age of the brain would be exempt from the benefits of this gene. I may be wrong here as my field is not medicine, but I'd rather not be the test case.
Life is great for me... Most of the time... But then I meet people online... Very few are real friends... Many say they are but know nothing of what it means... Some say they are, but are so shallow...
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robert bryce
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Really getting into it |
Registered: January 1970
Messages: 414
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Two things as I see it folks,a magic pill to age our youth by several decades and a magic smart pill that offers wisdom......rob;-D
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HA! I'm 16 and I am already running otu of suff to do with myself. What the hell will I do for the next 484 years dear god. And just imagine how old and wrinkly you would be by that time And people shrink as they get older, but i am only like 5'2 to begin with so would I become legally a mmidgit or something! The possibilities are endless...
Why are you wearing that stupid man suit?
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Oh man, I'd so go back and do from 12 on up again and freeze frame at about 14 or 15......permanently.
SOunds wierd, perhaps, but that was pretty much when I was on top of my Hockey game before the last big growth spurt screwed up my coordination for 3 years.
Besides, knowing what I know now, I'd love to be 12 again, and able to exploit that knowledge properly.
>sigh< I guess some dreams are too far gone for even modern science to fashion an answer to. Oh well. I could stand being 18 for a few decades and then advance one year for every ten I physically go through. That wouldn't be so hard.
And think about this fellas.....if this gene reactivates things that turn off as we grow older, then perhaps it will reverse male pattern baldness.  Just a thought. Comments?
It's not the wolf you see you should fear, but all the ones he howls with. Don't be afraid of the song, but don't piss off the choir.
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Sounds like the outline of a pretty terrific new story series by somebody that likes to write Sci-Fi/Fantasy stories...sound familiar, anybody?? :-* :-*
"Always forgive your enemies...nothing annoys them quite so much." Oscar Wilde
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Guest
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On fire! |
Registered: March 2012
Messages: 2344
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Have any of you read "Ender's Shadow" by Orson Scott Card?
Great book, great series, very recomended. My point however is that in there he raises another of his philosophical dilemas, this one by the name of Anton's key. In general it speaks of how for everything there is a price, for example raising human inteligence comes at the cost of a shorter life span (I won't go into specifics so as not to ruin the book for those who have not read it yet).
I'll give you another approach. Garden of Eden - the tree of life Vs. the tree of knowledge. When we took one we lost the other for ever. Ignoring the religious aspects of this it still raises some moral and ethical questions, don't you think?!?
Am I making sense to anyone out there or did this come out as incoherent as I think it did?
WoW:"You can bring a dead horse to the water but you can't make him drink"
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Another genetic key 
Re: Another genetic key 
It reminds me of something 
