– Religion and Mythology:
– Eternal youth is a characteristic of the inhabitants of Paradise in Abrahamic religions.
– Hindus believe Vedic and post-Vedic rishis have attained immortality.
– In Greek and Roman mythology, the difference between eternal life and eternal youth is a recurring theme.
– Norse mythology mentions Iðunn providing gods apples for eternal youthfulness.
– Themes of immortality and eternal youth appear in various mythologies.
– Telomeres:
– Telomeres on chromosomes protect them and regulate cell division.
– Telomeres have a limit (Hayflick limit) restricting cell division to 40-60 times.
– Telomere length correlates inversely with lifespan in mammals.
– Telomere shortening does not occur with age in some tissues like the rat brain.
– Cancer cells often contain telomerase, allowing unlimited divisions.
– Therapy:
– Commercial interest in repairing the human body to a more youthful state has grown.
– Companies like Human Longevity Inc, Google Calico, and Elysium Health are involved in anti-aging therapies.
– Senolytics, a new class of drugs, is being developed to combat biological causes of frailty.
– Many startups are working on therapeutics to address aging.
– The concept of rejuvenating the body in old age has attracted significant attention.
– Philanthropy:
– Aging increases the risk of diseases like cancer, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s.
– High net worth individuals like Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg have donated towards aging research.
– Initiatives focus on scientific research into aging processes and therapies.
– Notable donors include Ray Kurzweil, Peter Thiel, and Sergey Brin.
– Efforts are directed towards slowing or reversing the aging process.
– See Also:
– DNA damage theory of aging.
– Elixir of life.
– Fountain of Youth.
– Indefinite lifespan.
– Immortality.
This article needs additional citations for verification. (December 2009) |
Eternal youth is the concept of human physical immortality free of ageing. The youth referred to is usually meant to be in contrast to the depredations of aging, rather than a specific age of the human lifespan. Eternal youth is common in mythology, and is a popular theme in fiction.
