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Dr. Andrew Steele’s new book explores the concept of ageless humans

April 20, 2021

Human beings have been fascinated by longevity for thousands of years.
It was not until the last few decades that scientific research in this area taken off, unlocking one of the fastest-growing fields today – biogerontology.
Dr. Andrew Steele’s book explores the merits of longevity, current approaches, tools, and progress towards overcoming the scourge of aging.

In the 5th century BC, Herodotus – the Greek author known as the ‘Father of History‘-wrote on the ‘Fountain of Youth’, proving that ancient societies were concerned with issues of longevity and youthfulness. Nonetheless, scientists have for a long time thought that longevity was out of reach – which dissuaded early research. It wasn’t until the last three decades that biogerontology (the scientific study of aging) has accelerated. Numerous, successful studies have now identified genes and compounds that are linked to aging – unlocking new frontiers for potential drugs. In his book, ‘Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old’, Andrew Steele explores the methodologies and progress in the quest for ageless humans. Dr. Steele is a computational biologist who has spent years researching biogerontology. He defines aging as the “exponential increase in death and suffering with time,” and argues that “ageing is the biggest cause of suffering in the world”. While the field of longevity and biogerontology have made major strides in the recent past, some may still be skeptical. Dr. Steele reassures by citing examples in nature. The giant tortoises of the Galapagos Islands show no age-related decline. A tortoise that is 170 years old would easily be mistaken for one that is only 30 years old. This natural phenomenon – referred to as negligible senescence in scientific circles – may also be within humanity’s grasp. Dr. Steele contends that discounting the possibility of ageless humans is based on nothing but prejudice. This kind of prejudice held back the field of biogerontology for a very long time. Many early scientists used to view aging as an immeasurably complex process that couldn’t possibly be studied in a lab. But current developments have helped cast aspersions aside. Modern researchers have realized how unhelpful it is to try and cure the diseases of old age one by one, rather than tackle the underlying cause – aging itself. Dr. Steele asserts that there is actually no good reason to assume an upper limit to longevity, or that aging must come with decline. Not when there is so much evidence to the contrary. “The dream of anti-ageing medicine is treatments that would identify the root causes of dysfunction as we get older, then slow their progression or reverse them entirely,” writes Steele. These root causes are what biogerontologists refer to as hallmarks. “Cancer isn’t a hallmark of ageing, but it’s caused by several of the hallmarks of ageing,” he says. If researchers can address those hallmarks, “We can come up with treatments that slow down the whole ageing process, deferring diseases into the future.” Biogerontology researchers already have many tools at their disposal, ranging from drugs that imitate the life-extending effects of dietary restriction to computer simulations for whole biological systems and gene-editing tools such as CRISPR. While COVID-19 has slammed the brakes on progress, Mr. Steele believes that results are likely in the next few years, possibly in the form of drugs that repair cellular damage accumulated over many years. “For every year of scientific endeavor, a year could be added to the average human lifespan, old age would recede into the future at the same rate as today’s population approached it,” he asserts. Dr. Andrew Steele, like many other scientists, agrees that the goal of a longer lifespan is within reach. Better yet, some of the treatments already being proposed seem to have minimal risks and massive benefits.

References: https://www.economist.com/books-and-arts/2021/02/06/ageing-can-be-cured-and-in-part-it-soon-will-be

Dr. Andrew Steele’s new book explores the concept of ageless humans

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