100 years ago scientists predicted how long we would live
In 1921, Canadian physician Frederick Grant Banting revolutionized the course of diabetes by discovering how to isolate insulin from animals. This discovery immortalized Banting, a World War I veteran and former farm boy, in medical history and made the disease, which had previously killed 80 percent of prepubescent children with diabetes, manageable.
While these breakthroughs fueled the dream of extending human life, the discovery of the Germ Theory in the 1880s ushered in a golden age in bacteriology, and a new era in medicine began with the identification of vitamins, the development of vaccines, and the transformation of anesthesia in surgery. Thus, the idea of immortality began to be a subject of debate.
John E. Lodge, interviewed by Popular Science magazine in July 1925, said:
"Thanks to science, life expectancy is increasing every year. Why shouldn't we measure life in centuries one day?"
It was claimed that death would be overcome by changing enzymes and organ transplants.
TODAY'S RESEARCHWhile scientists today continue to work on stopping and even reversing aging, in a study conducted in Singapore, the life span of mice was increased by 25% by blocking the IL-11 protein.
At the University of Rochester, genes for longevity were transferred from naked mole rats to normal mice, allowing them to live longer and healthier lives.
Metformin, a compound derived from goat weed, is now a leading drug in the treatment of type 2 diabetes and is now being investigated for its potential to slow down age-related diseases.
100 YEARS OF KNOWLEDGE ON AGINGIn the late 19th century, evolutionary biologist August Weismann proposed that cells can divide a finite number of times and that there is a biological basis for aging. This theory was confirmed in the 1960s. In the 1980s, researchers such as Shinya Yamanaka developed reprogramming techniques to rejuvenate cells. Today, these methods form the basis of potential treatments that could reverse aging.
SO HOW REALISTIC IS A THOUSAND-YEAR LIFE?While scientific advances are promising, most have only been successful in laboratory settings and in short-lived animals, and applying them to humans still seems a complex and long-term process.
SÖZCÜ
