Aging can be defeated, Aubrey de Grey

Image: Geoff Oliver Bugbee

There are two certainties in life, death and taxes. The chief scientist of the SENS Foundation, would like to edit that statement.

He asks if aging is a side effect of metabolism - which leads to damage - which leads to pathology. If so, could aging be an engineering problem? That's the fundamental question posed Aubrey de Grey this afternoon.

Regenerative medicine "seeks to restore a tissue or organ to its state before it suffered damage." While expressing suitable humility about the complexity of the challenge, he compares the body to a machine. Within ten years, he believes that proven therepeutic avenues will open that will add 30 years of healthy life to middle aged men and women.

As for why should we defeat aging. "It kills far more people than malaria. It's very, very bad for you."