Aubrey de Grey on “The End of Aging”

The End of Aging: An Evening with Aubrey de Grey

Tuesday, September 22, 2009 | 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM

The New York Academy of Sciences

Presented by Science & the City and The Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence

Aubrey de Grey predicts that it’s only a matter of decades before regenerative medicine extends human life expectancy indefinitely. Join S&C to learn why de Grey believes the lifespans of even today’s 60-year-olds could be extended by 30 years.

It might seem premature to discuss prospects for eliminating human aging as a cause of death before any real progress has been made in even postponing aging. But Aubrey de Grey argues that two aspects of modern science make such a discussion realistic. First, aging happens throughout our lives but only results in appreciable functional decline after four or more decades of life. He says this means we can postpone the functional decline caused by aging through increasingly thorough molecular and cellular repair without knowing how to prevent aging completely. Second, especially where public enthusiasm is abundant, technological breakthroughs are now being refined at a dramatic rate. In fact, R&D progress now happens so quickly that technologies—be they medicinal, transportation, or computing—are advancing almost beyond recognition within a natural human lifespan.

This evening, de Grey will explain, first, why therapies that can add 30 healthy years to the remaining lifespan of healthy 60-year-olds may—with adequate funding for the initial preclinical work—arrive within the next few decades—and, second, why those who benefit from those therapies will very probably continue to benefit from progressively improved therapies indefinitely and thus avoid debilitation or death from age-related causes at any age.

Reception to Follow Lecture.