Maverick who believes we can live for ever

Mark Honigsbaum
Saturday September 10, 2005
The Guardian

In 1998 a scientist at the California Institute of Technology discovered a gene that could extend the life of fruit flies by 30%. He dubbed it the Methuselah gene after the Biblical prophet who lived to 969.

Now a self-taught gerontologist believes our mortality could one day be similarly extended.

At a conference at Queen’s College, Cambridge, this week, Aubrey de Grey, a 41-year-old Cambridge computer scientist, told a research audience that there was no reason why people should not live to 1,000.

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It sounds like science fiction, but for all that Dr de Grey has been dismissed as a crank, his papers continue to be published in peer-reviewed journals and scientists continue to flock to his meetings.

The editor of the MIT Technology Review has gone so far as to offer a $20,000 (‘11,000) prize to any gerontologist who could put together a serious argument refuting his claims. So far there have been no takers….

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