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Topics: Science, Technology, Health
Aisha Nozari
Scientists reckon humans may be able to live until the age of 130 in the future.
A study of men and women who'd lived to their 90s and beyond found that our chances of dying stop increasing once we hit 108.
In research conducted for the Royal Society Open Science journal, scientists explained: “The increasing number of supercentenarians makes it possible that the maximum reported age at death will rise to 130 years during the present century.”
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In short, if living conditions continue to improve, the study suggests some of us will reach the age of 130 before 2100.
Once we hit 110, we have a 50-50 chance of living through the next year. Anthony Davison, the study’s lead researcher, told AFP: “Beyond age 110 one can think of living another year as being almost like flipping a fair coin.
"If it comes up heads, then you live to your next birthday, and if not, then you will die at some point within the next year.”
The researchers investigated if there was an upper limit to human lifespan below 130, and concluded that if there was they would have detected it.
Nevertheless, it's still extremely unlikely you'll see your 130th birthday, as Davidson added that if you're already 110, the chances of making it to 130 are 'one in a million'.
The study was published in September 2021, the same month that Silicon Valley’s Altos Labs announced it was looking into biological reprogramming that could help reverse the ageing process.
One of the de-aging methods being studied was a type of reprogramming that could teach cells to revert back to their 'stem cell' origins and make them readapt to the skin, giving it a more youthful appearance.
Altos Labs raised more than $270 million in funding thanks to massive donations from the likes of Jeff Bezos and Russian-Israeli entrepreneur Yuri Milner, according to the Daily Mail.
Altos Labs recruited Nobel Prize winner Dr Shinya Yamanaka, who won his coveted award in 2012 for 'the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent'.
Hal Barron, Alto Labs’ CEO, said in January, according to GEN News: “It’s clear from work by Shinya Yamanaka, and many others since his initial discoveries, that cells have the ability to rejuvenate, resetting their epigenetic clocks and erasing damage from a myriad of stressors.”
While Altos Labs may potentially be able to offer rich old people the skin of 20-somethings, the immortality achievement has by no means been unlocked, as stem cells also age and die.
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