For the First Time, Researchers Find Longevity Gene That Helps Determine Lifespan

In a world with ever diminishing space and resources, for me this brings up a question of ethics and philosophy.
If given one of two choices would I choose the right to procreate, or to live forever?

I choose move to mars and procreate forever. Silly females don't have this option though they run out of procreatabilaty at around forty or fifty.

animemaster it's not called procreation if you're by yourself

Agelessness is not equal to immortality. Even if you could use gene therpy to keep your body at a healthy 35 for a lifetime, you would still die.

1) Accidents or violence would still cause trama and death.
2) Diseases still kill off the healthy - live long enough and you will catch one.
3) Cancers are determined by chance. It is one cig that introduces on particle that messes up one cell that forms a tumor - it could be the first cig, could be the 10 billionth - live long enough and one of the carcinogens in your life (like grilled hamburgers or sunlight) is going to get you.
4) Wear and tear affects the young as well. Joints can often wear out early in life, and given time, even more robust systems will give out on your "eternally youthful" corpse.

So, while I would love to be healthy and viril until I'm 120, I wouldn't bank on making it to 200.

Oakspar77777: you are correct on some bullet points, yet diseases, cancers, wear-n-tear all are potentially treatable causes of death, and accidents are increasingly preventable as well, so while total immortality is unlikely any time soon, living until ripe old age of a couple of centuries is quite a possibility I think.

can you say overpopulated earth.

Lol, we'll buy our replacement organs and systems that fail from Geneco. ...well, you will. I'll be getting mine from the black market. Screw Geneco., man.

starship troopers best movie ever

Cancer already does control telomere length. They immortalize themselves in part because one of the changes rebuilds the telomeres and keeps them at full length, no preprogrammed cell death that way.

The combined prolonged genetic damage built up over years will eventually kill the cell anyway regardless of telomere length. Immortality won't be found with something this simple or probably anything, starting over single celled and clean is the best way nature has found. I agree with nature. You apes wanna live forever? Not so much.

So obviously they've already compared our telomeres with other animals' at various lifespans to come to this conclusion? I'm curious how the evolution model plays a role in the lifespan of a creature.

I agree with mycellium: we still have to beat cancer before people can live forever.

Given that developed countries like Japan and Italy are going into negative population growth, I don't think that larger lifespans necessarily mean overpopulation. What it does mean is that pension plans will destroy the economy if older people don't go back to work. Retirement might have to become a temporary holiday from work- you go play golf and travel for 10 years, then get back to the cubicle (how's that for a dystopian future!).

Wow! Insurance companies will L-O-V-E this one. Wanna policy? Let's get a little swab inside your cheek. Hey, you're predicted to live to 100. You get the cheap policy.

I sold a policy yesterday to a guy predicted to kick off at 60. Charged him plenty. But it was worth every penny!

Then there's our annuity product. After age 65 we pay you for as long as you live. Considering that'll be a long time for you, we'll have to charge you more. Unless of course, you take up smoking, and can prove you eat at least 3 cheeseburgers with fries every week. Then we could give you a break on that one.

Skydiving? Well, why didn't you tell me? My calculator says you won't live past 90. We could knock off a little for that.

Hmm with lee press on limbs (Ren and Stimpy) and the new story about being able to regrow cartilage, and now this. We aren't to far I do wonder what the selection criteria will be for the "have's" to get the treatments in the future.
Outside of that I like mortality. With this word becoming more and more irritating I take some pleasure in the knowledge that some day I wont wake up annoyed anymore...

were closer to converting ourselves to biological machines then anything... theyve recently coem out with a material that creates electrcitiy from atp. (what our cells use for energy)
LOL i see a fracture (video game) war starting here.... technology enhancement over biological enhacnement

We're on the brink of so many advances in technology its impossible to conceive what will come in our lifetime. Don't comment on my spelling, i know it sucks, i jsut dont care ;)