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Chat Topic: S. Jay Olshansky - Immortality as Hype, Nothing New
Olshansky is a Professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Co-author with Bruce Carnes of The Quest for Immortality: Science at the Frontiers of Aging. Olshansky joins ImmInst Chat to give a more sober view on what he considers detremental hype surrounding a cure for aging and physical immortality.
Chat Time: Sun May 22 - 8 pm Eastern (Time Zone Guide)
Chat Room: http://www.imminst.org/chat
S. Jay Olshansky, Ph.D.
Suggested Reading:
1) 'Don't fall for the cult of immortality'
By S Jay Olshansky PhD
What do the ancient purveyors of physical immortality all have in common? They are all dead
2) 51 Scientists' Position Statement on Human Aging
AUTHORS AND ENDORSERS
Authors: S. Jay Olshansky (School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago), Leonard Hayflick (University of California at San Francisco) and Bruce A. Carnes (University of Chicago/National Opinion Research Center)
Endorsers (alphabetical order): Robert Arking, Allen Bailey, Andrzej Bartke, Vladislav V. Bezrukov, Jacob Brody, Robert N. Butler, Alvaro Macieira-Coelho, L. Stephen Coles, David Danon, Aubrey D.N.J. de Grey, Lloyd Demetrius, Astrid Fletcher, James F. Fries, David Gershon, Roger Gosden, Carol W. Greider, S. Mitchell Harman, David Harrison, Christopher Heward, Henry R. Hirsch, Robin Holliday, Thomas E. Johnson, Tom Kirkwood, Leo S. Luckinbill, George M. Martin, Alec A. Morley, Charles Nam, Sang Chul Park, Linda Partridge, Graham Pawelec, Thomas T. Perls, Suresh Rattan, Robert Ricklefs, Ladislas (Leslie) Robert, Richard G. Rogers, Henry Rothschild, Douglas L. Schmucker, Jerry W. Shay, Monika Skalicky, Len Smith, Raj Sohal, Richard L. Sprott, Andrus Viidik, Jan Vijg, Eugenia Wang, Andrew Weil, Georg Wick and Woodring Wright.
Excerpt:
"We enthusiastically support research in genetic engineering, stem cells, geriatric medicine and therapeutic pharmaceuticals, technologies that promise to revolutionize medicine as we know it. Most biogerontologists believe that our rapidly expanding scientific knowledge holds the promise that means may eventually be discovered to slow the rate of aging. If successful, these interventions are likely to postpone age-related diseases and disorders and extend the period of healthy life. Although the degree to which such interventions might extend length of life is uncertain, we believe this is the only way another quantum leap in life expectancy is even possible. Our concern is that when proponents of antiaging medicine claim that the fountain of youth has already been discovered, it negatively affects the credibility of serious scientific research efforts on aging. Because aging is the greatest risk factor for the leading causes of death and other age-related pathologies, more attention must be paid to the study of these universal underlying processes. Successful efforts to slow the rate of aging would have dramatic health benefits for the population by far exceeding the anticipated changes in health and length of life that would result from the complete elimination of heart disease, cancer, stroke and other age-associated diseases and disorders." Quote Link