X-Message-Number: 5045 Date: Mon, 23 Oct 1995 23:06:49 -0700 (PDT) From: Doug Skrecky <> Subject: Emortalism EMORTALISM (from Longevity Report 41 October 1993) By Doug Skrecky In the year 1900 few would have predicted many of the events which subsequently unfolded during the 20'th century, such as the rise and fall of world communism, the impact of the automobile on society, or the existence of devices such as walkmans, VCRs or home computers. Like its predecessor the 21st century is going to hold some unexpected surprises. One of these will likely be the rise of a world wide movement which we shall provisionally term emortalism. What does emortalism stand for? It means Eventually MORTAL. We are quite close now to understanding the basic ageing mechanisms. When this understanding is complete aging will become optional and individuals who choose to do without it will become the first of the "emortals". This is not the same as becoming immortal as death always hunts those who are alive and even youthful individuals in the peak of health are occasionally felled by cancer or by accident. There presently exist many examples of emortalism. A sequoia tree is emortal as it's living tissues do not undergo any aging process, but it is not immortal since rot of the dead heartwood eventually renders it structurally unsound so that it then topples and dies. Some cold blooded animals such as rockfish also appear not to age. *1 Certain tissues even in humans do not deteriorate with time. For instance the age related phenomina of increased mitochondrial production of free radicals occurs only in terminally differentiated cell types. *2 Thus it appears that all rapidly dividing stem cell types are immune to the ravages of aging and not just those involved in reproduction. For example bone marrow cells from old animals have been found to be just as vigorous as those from young animals. *3 Thus the change from the mortal to the emortal state may not be such a large jump afterall. During the 20th century the average lifespan doubled due to a decrease in disease associated mortality. Virtually all those now over 65 years of age owe their continued existance solely to the medical advances which occurred during the 20'th century. The 21st century may see a similar increase in lifespan as the barrier posed by aging is itself broken so that mortality rates of the elders (us?) are lowered to levels similar to those characterizing young adults. *1 "New Models for New Perspectives in the Biology of Senescence" 625-634 Vol.12 1991 Neurobiology of Aging *2 "An Update on the Mitochondrial-DNA Mutation Hypothesis of Cell Aging" 209-216 Vol.275 1992 Mutation Research *3 "Ultimate Erythropoietic Repopulating Abilities of Fetal, Young Adult and Old Adult Cells Compared Using Repeated Irradiation" 759-771 Vol.160 1984 Journal of Experimental Medicine Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=5045