Well, this looks pretty exciting:
Systemic attenuation of the TGF-β pathway by a single drug simultaneously rejuvenates hippocampal neurogenesis and myogenesis in the same old mammal.
As an oldish mammal myself, I say “faster please.”
7 thoughts on “Rejuvenation”
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Dear Rand,
Do you really think the Left will let viable life extension treatments reach the public unopposed? A large part of their political power centers around the control of pensions in the USA and elsewhere. The longer people live, the longer their workings lives will be. This means people will be able to save more money, which in turn will lead to a reduced dependence on the government pension system. It follows that this will result in a reduction in the power of the left.
It’s worse than that. It will bankrupt Social Security in the absence of major reforms.
I think you mean bankrupt Medicare not SS; after all SS is a defined amount that can be adjusted upward (or downward) as they see fit. Believe that the last two years no COLA for SS for instance. Medicare is of course trickier; but it seem to me if the gov rejuvenates you and you are effectively “young” you won’t be able to retire you will have to continue to work (& pay taxes). There is no longer a rational argument for the gov making you young on the tax payer’s dime and also expecting them to pay you a “pension”.
A couple of counter points:
* most people don’t save money. Those that do have an uphill battle due to taxes and inflation. The political powers that can and will adjust those upward.
* The economic effects of longer life are not so easy to anticipate. There will be costs, and benefits — furthermore, it isn’t clear where those costs and benefits will land.
* I’m much more worried that the Green Religion will decide that extended lifespan is double plus ungood for Gaia. In which case they will need to hunt you down for saying something positive about it.
I’m much more worried that the Green Religion will decide that extended lifespan is double plus ungood for Gaia. In which case they will need to hunt you down for saying something positive about it.
Go for it. Nothing will destroy this belief system faster than the public believing that the “Green Religion” is deliberately holding back long life.
“This means people will be able to save more money, which in turn will lead to a reduced dependence on the government pension system. It follows that this will result in a reduction in the power of the left.”
Nah….what about all those people who won’t be able to afford the at least initially very expensive longevity treatments? That’s right they would demand government pick up the tab…socialized medicine big time; the political left will luv that!
Seems pretty clear to me that these treatments will first become available in countries which don’t impose onerous regulations on… well, anything new, really. The government won’t be offering them on taxpayers’ dollars, we’ll be flying to Mexico to get them done.
There’s simply no way the future of medicine–which will be closer to software development and engineering than witchdoctoring–can be made compatible with 20th century Western medical regulation.