The Quest for Immortality: Science at the Frontiers of Aging PDF Download

Author: Stuart Jay Olshansky
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393323277
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
For readers interested in longevity, the authors explain the real science of aging and show which treatments offer real hope and which are a waste of money and time.

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Languages : en
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Book Description
For more than a decade, Dr. Olshansky and Dr. Carnes have been working in the field of aging to identify the biological attributes of species that influence their length of life. Amid countless claims by scientists and the lay population that human life expectancy will continue to rise indefinitely in the future, Olshansky and Carnes have stood fast in their conviction that such claims are without any scientific basis. In their book The Quest for Immortality, S. Jay Olshansky and Bruce A. Carnes provide a comprehensive account of the real science of aging, from a historical overview of religious and philosophical thinking about aging and death, to the biology behind the changes we see in the mirror, to the promising but frightening future of genetic engineering. They demystify the complex language and concepts of science, explain how to distinguish real science from media hype in order to help readers make informed health decisions, and offer a powerfully optimistic vision of aging and health in the twenty-first century.

Author: Venki Ramakrishnan
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0063113295
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description
"Utterly fascinating." —Bill Bryson "An incredible journey." —Siddhartha Mukherjee A groundbreaking exploration of the science of longevity and mortality—from Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist Venki Ramakrishnan The knowledge of death is so terrifying that we live most of our lives in denial of it. One of the most difficult moments of childhood must be when each of us first realizes that not only we but all our loved ones will die—and there is nothing we can do about it. Or at least, there hasn’t been. Today, we are living through a revolution in biology. Giant strides are being made in understanding why we age—and why some species live longer than others. Could we eventually cheat disease and death and live for a very long time, possibly many times our current lifespan? Venki Ramakrishnan, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and former president of the Royal Society, takes us on a riveting journey to the frontiers of biology, asking whether we must be mortal. Covering the recent breakthroughs in scientific research, he examines the cutting edge of efforts to extend lifespan by altering our physiology. But might death serve a necessary biological purpose? What are the social and ethical costs of attempting to live forever? Why We Die is a narrative of uncommon insight and beauty from one of our leading public intellectuals.

Author: Lewis D. Solomon
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351475592
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
"Many scientists today are working to retard the aging process in humans so as to increase both life expectancy and the quality of life. Over the past decade impressive results have been achieved in targeting the mechanisms and pathways of aging. In The Quest for Human Longevity, Lewis D. Solomon considers these scientific studies by exploring the principal biomedical anti-aging techniques. The book also considers cutting edge research on mental enhancements and assesses the scientific doubts of skeptics. The Quest for Human Longevity is also about business. Solomon examines eight corporations pursuing various age-related interventions, profiling their scientific founders and top executives, and examining personnel, intellectual property, and financing for each firm. Academic scientists form the link between research and commerce. Solomon notes that the involvement of university scientists and researchers follows one of two models. The first is a traditional model in which scientists leave academia to work for a corporation or remain in academia and obtain business support for their research. The second is a modern model in which scientists use their intellectual property as a catalyst for acquiring equity interests in the firms they organize. Critics have pointed to the dangers of commercialized science, but Solomon's analysis, on balance, finds that the benefits outweigh the costs and that problems of secrecy and conflicts of interest can be addressed. If scientists succeed in unlocking the secrets of aging and developing drugs or therapies that will allow us to live decades longer, the consequences for society will include profound social, political, economic, and ethical questions. Solomon deals with the public policy aspects of significant life extension and looks at the conflict between those who advocate the acceptance of mortality and the partisans of life. The Quest for Human Longevity will be of interest to policymakers, sociologists, scientists, and studen"

Author: Immortality Institute
Publisher: Bruce Klein
ISBN: 9875611352
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 296

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Book Description
Nineteen scientists, doctors and philosophers share their perspective on what is arguably the most significant scientific development that humanity has ever faced - the eradication of aging and mortality. This anthology is both a gentle introduction to the multitude of cutting-edge scientific developments, and a thoughtful, multidisciplinary discussion of the ethics, politics and philosophy behind the scientific conquest of aging.

Author: Michael R. Rose
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0195179390
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 189

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Book Description
Equally important, Rose surveys the entire field, offering colorful portraits of many leading scientists and shedding light on research findings from around the world. We learn that rodents given fifteen to forty percent fewer calories live about that much longer, and that volunteers in Biosphere II, who lived on reduced caloric intake for two years, all had improved vital signs. Perhaps most interesting, we discover that aging hits a plateau and stops - at least, it does so in fruit flies."--Jacket.

Author: Walker, Alan
Publisher: Policy Press
ISBN: 1447314670
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 344

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Book Description
This unique book represents the first multi-disciplinary examination of ageing, covering everything from basic cell biology, to social participation in later life, to the representations of old age in the arts and literature. A comprehensive introductory text about the latest scientific evidence on ageing, the book draws on the pioneering New Dynamics of Ageing Programme, the UK’s largest research programme in ageing. This programme brought together leading academics from across the arts and humanities, social and biological sciences and fields of engineering and medical research, to study how ageing is changing and the ways in which this process can be made more beneficial to both individuals and society. Comprising individual, local, national and global perspectives, this book will appeal to everyone with an interest in one of the greatest challenges facing the world – our own ageing.

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Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9048139988
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 866

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Book Description
Just as the health costs of aging threaten to bankrupt developed countries, this book makes the scientific case that a biological "bailout" could be on the way, and that human aging can be different in the future than it is today. Here 40 authors argue how our improving understanding of the biology of aging and selected technologies should enable the successful use of many different and complementary methods for ameliorating aging, and why such interventions are appropriate based on our current historical, anthropological, philosophical, ethical, evolutionary, and biological context. Challenging concepts are presented together with in-depth reviews and paradigm-breaking proposals that collectively illustrate the potential for changing aging as never before. The proposals extend from today to a future many decades from now in which the control of aging may become effectively complete. Examples include sirtuin-modulating pills, new concepts for attacking cardiovascular disease and cancer, mitochondrial rejuvenation, stem cell therapies and regeneration, tissue reconstruction, telomere maintenance, prevention of immunosenescence, extracellular rejuvenation, artificial DNA repair, and full deployment of nanotechnology. The Future of Aging will make you think about aging differently and is a challenge to all of us to open our eyes to the future therapeutic potential of biogerontology.

Author: Guy Brown
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 023055332X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 290

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Book Description
The decline of infections, starvation, heart attack, and stroke has allowed people to reach extreme old age--and ushered in disability, dementia, and degenerative disease, with profound consequences for the self and society. In chapters echoing Dante's nine circles of hell, Dr. Guy Brown explores these vital issues at various levels, from the cell, to the whole body, to society and how all this new medical technology affects the meaning of death. He tracks the seismic shifts in the causes and character of death that are rocking medicine and reveals how technological innovations, such as cloning and electronic interfaces, hint at new modes of "survival" after death.

Author: John A Vincent
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1446240045
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 273

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Book Description
What is the future of old age? How will families, services, and economies adapt to an older population? Such questions often provoke extreme and opposing answers: some see ageing populations as having the potential to undermine economic growth and prosperity; others see new and exciting ways of living in old age. The Futures of Old Age places these questions in the context of social and political change, and assesses what the various futures of old age might be. Prepared by the British Society of Gerontology, The Futures of Old Age brings together a team of leading international gerontologists from the United Kingdom and United States, drawing on their expertise and research. The book′s seven sections deal with key contemporary themes including: population ageing; households and families; health; wealth; pensions; migration; inequalities; gender and self; and identity in later life.