Scientists claim 'millennial man' will soon emerge

Scientists believe that a person destined to live more than 150 years has already been born. In addition, a "millennial man" will appear in the near future.

The first person to live to 150 has already been born, according to gerontologist Aubrey de Grey. Even more incredibly, the first person to live to 1,000 years will be born in the next two decades.

A leading scientist studying the phenomenon of longevity claims that in his lifetime doctors will have all the tools necessary to "cure" aging. This will be done, he believes, by curing all diseases and prolonging life indefinitely. Incidentally, doctors have recently reported that an elixir of eternal life has been invented. The British specialist already "sees" a time when people will go to the doctor for "regular supports" in the form of gene therapy, stem cell therapy and stimulation of the immune system, as well as a number of other advanced medical technologies. Dr. de Grey describes aging as a lifelong accumulation of various types of molecular and cellular damage throughout the body.

Dr. De Grey describes the aging process as a lifelong accumulation of various types of molecular and cellular damage throughout the body, and compares the body of an elderly person to a used car. “The idea is to engage people in a process of preventative geriatrics, in which worn-out cells are repaired before molecular and cellular damage exceeds a critical point and enters the pathogenic phase,” the scientist explains.

How much longer human life can be extended is still a matter of scientific debate. One thing is certain: every year, the average life expectancy of people increases by an average of three months – such are the statistics. According to experts, by 2030 the number of people celebrating their centenary may exceed one million. However, skeptics warn that this figure could be seriously undermined by the obesity epidemic, which in recent years has spilled over from rich countries to developing countries.

It should be noted that De Grey's ideas had many critics in the scientific community. Some opponents even accused the SENS scientists of pseudoscience. However, none of the critics were able to prove the inconsistency of the new gerontological theory, although the authoritative scientific journal Technological Review offered a $20,000 reward for this back in 2005.

Many people are put off by the prospect of living for hundreds of years, as old age is traditionally associated with physical infirmity and various ailments. However, the scientific director of SENS says that such a sad existence has nothing to do with the future that his research group offers humanity. “It is not about prolonging the life of a seriously ill, dying organism, but about preventing the onset and development of any disease caused by ageing,” explains De Grey.

The gerontologist divides cellular damage caused by aging into seven basic categories, for which appropriate methods are being developed. While medicine has not yet come up with "warranty repair" methods for some categories, it has almost achieved the goal for others.

One such successful method is rejuvenating treatment with stem cells. Clinical trials, including on humans, have proven that stem cell injections can restore cellular tissue that has lost its ability to automatically renew itself. Successfully used to treat people with spinal cord injuries, this method has a good chance of proving itself in restoring the brain and heart damaged by disease. This is especially important if we remember that cardiovascular diseases are currently the main "age-related killers".

Dr. De Grey does not dare to make precise predictions about how long people will be able to live in the future and how soon this future will arrive. However, each discovery in medical science brings us closer to a new era, the scientist is sure. According to his estimates, the first person capable of living for a thousand years will be born within 20 years after the birth of an individual capable of crossing the 150-year mark. And when that time comes, the most common cause of death will no longer be illness and old age, but accidents, against which medicine, alas, is powerless.

"I call it the acceleration of the longevity race - where we acquire more and more therapeutic tools to cure diseases much faster than it takes to age," says De Grey. "This way we buy ourselves enough time to develop even more advanced therapies. There can be no limit to life limited by the date of birth. The whole point is to provide maintenance indefinitely."

The officially recorded world record for life expectancy is 122 years. As for the future, in which the population of the Earth consists entirely of long-livers, many experts paint a far from rosy picture. If science achieves a sharp increase in life expectancy, this could lead to serious social changes, according to experts from the Institute for Healthy Ageing at University College London. The population of the Earth will consist mainly of old people, its numbers will grow, the gap between rich and poor will increase, and people will have to artificially control the birth rate and increasingly resort to euthanasia.