Before anyone acts surprised or amazing, this is common scientific knowledge. The reason we haven't 'cured' aging yet is because we have yet to develop a reliable drug that can modulate this particular enzyme's production.
It comes down to Telomeres. Telomers are nucleotide sequences at the end of Chromosomes.
Everytime a Chromosome is replicated, it looses ~100-200 nucleotides. There is an Enzyme the body produces called Telomerase. Telomerases job is to add nucleotides to the Telomeres.
Aging, the physical effects of it, occur as a result of a reduction in the DNA replication process. All of the effects of aging are tired directly to this. When DNA replication is reduced, so is everything tied to the DNA. That includes all enzymes which that DNA produces that take care of skin, cellular/organ health. Pretty much everything in the body. Structure of skin, everything, every enzyme that makes the body function, etc.
Telomerase production slows down over time due to stress factors, and every time you get hurt or your body needs to replicate DNA, your telomeres get shorter. This reduction in the frequency of DNA replication causes a gradual decline in all bodily functions down to the cellular and enzyme level. If Telomerase production was somehow never slowed down, or somehow increased by external or internal(through mental influence) means, the physical signs of aging would never occur. In theory a person could live forever with all DNA functions in tact assuming avoidance of cancer and other incurable diseases.
If there were some magical drug that maximized Telomerase production, and an elderly person who is about to die of old age were to take it.... they would basically look as if they were around ~25 years old, or around their peak of maturation where the decline begins. This wouldn't likely happen over night, depending on how quickly their body can heal... but a good guess is, it would take about 3 weeks of being on this "Telomerase boosting drug" for a person who looks 100 years old to look 25 again.
After being on such a drug and having their Telomeres elongated, their life would be essentially extended to full health to whatever degree their telomers were elongated. In theory if this 'drug' were to elongate Telomere lengths beyond what they were at birth, this person could live for even up to 900-10,000+ years, DEPENDING on the length of their Telomeres.
With the science of genetic engineering, if the DNA determining Telomere length, were increased, our children, and all their children following, could be given the gift of being able to live for THOUSANDS of years without any scientific interference(assuming nature doesn't harm them). They essentially wouldn't die of old age. But this theory still assumes that Telomerase production decreases over time. The length of a new born life could be increased by directly increasing the length of Telomeres.
If the gene that deals with Telomerase production was greatly enhanced, along with stress resistance genes, regardless of the initial length of the Telomeres, a human could live forever, assuming they don't get in some accident or murdered. They would never grow old so to speak.
Essentially, all that is needed to never grow old is for Telomerase activity to always be adding nucleotides to Telomeres at a rate faster than the DNA replication process removes them. As long as Telomerase activity remains above a certain point, aging would never occur.
If the science of gene modifcation was mastered and all genes in the body were identified, it would be easy to give a person an infinitely powerful immune system, rapid healing capabilities, and the right combinations of enzymes to be self supportive so that Telomerase activity is always at it's best. This, would defeat aging, completely.
On a side note, there are Yogis capable of entering such states of deep meditation that they can meditation for multiple years without needing any food or water, without losing weight, as their bodies would be in a state of deep hibernation. A state so deep that aging would ultimately stop. Assuming outside stress sources are completely eliminated, a person would stay in this deep hibernation state for eternity. Metabolism reducing to a negligible state akin to that of being dead. Though the key would be, they could restart at any moment through some activation of dormant chemical reactions that would ultimately crank up their entire body again.
(The below was meant for a second post but the forum auto-combined the posts)
There are also Yogis who have such control over autonomic bodily features that they are able to consciously manipulate the production of enzymes. There are monks who can heal cuts in seconds(similar to wolverine :p). I have seen it first hand in my travels around the world.
In theory, if conscious control of the autonomic and parasympathetic nervous system can be achieved, which is possible through meditation, any gene can be modulated, a person would become a god of their body. They would be able to consciously manipulate even the genes that cause aging and completely eliminate aging through conscious production of the right genes. But before you get your hopes up, keep in mind this level of skill and mental development is the pinnacle of meditation mastery. You essentially have to dedicate your life to developing your mind and consciousness to achieve this.... and most people wouldn't waste their lives doing this unless they had faith that immortality can actually be achieved via this process.
Edited by Siro, 15 October 2012 - 11:22 PM.
