Living Forever

• "I'm not afraid of dying, I just don't want to be there when it happens."

  Woody Allen

• "Do not try to live forever. You will not succeed."

  George Bernard Shaw

• "We can live forever, a minute at a time."

  Mazalien

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I mmortality. Life Extension. The Fountain of Youth. Real science or simply wishful thinking? Is it hope or is it hype? Scientists from around the world are racing to answer one of humanity's chief questions: can we turn back the human clock? Hitch a ride on this controversial roller-coaster with charismatic gerontologist Michael Rose as he leads us to where the cutting-edge science in life extension is happening: biotechnology, genetic research, therapeutic cloning and stem-cell research – fields which have moved to the outer reaches of our wildest imagination. In Living Forever we also meet the “believers” among us: the colourful characters who refuse to succumb to the grim reaper. And let's not forget the specialists who predict whether their clients have what it takes to live past 100. Just to be clear, Living Forever is not a documentary about 60-year-olds who want to look like young and sexy 25-year-olds. This is a film about stopping, slowing down – even reversing – human aging. It is about the modern quest to create a longer, healthier old age, or – the Holy Grail – eliminating old age altogether. So, what happens if humans are able to live for another 100 or 500 years? Should we create a race of immortals, just because we have the know-how? At what evolutionary cost? What about the ethical issues? Given humanity's trajectory thus far, it's likely that most people will say ethics be damned: let The Longevity Revolution begin.

Living forever, or at least well past 100, is within reach of today's youngest generation, some scientists say. In this three-day series, LiveScience looks at the implications of the path toward immortality. In the 21st century, will scientists reach the Holy Grail - will they discover the fountain of youth? Will we live forever? Scientists are now close to understanding the biological mechanisms that make us age and make us die. A few decades ago, no-one thought we could add years to life. The maximum life-span possible for humans was believed to be a hundred or so - and all because of an immutable genetic clock.

These extraordinary mice can perfectly regenerate tissue, such as this hole punched in the ear, without any signs of scarring.But recently a series of startling discoveries has forced scientists to rethink their theories on ageing. They have already found some of the genes involved in delaying the ageing process in animals. Tinkering with them, geneticists have created races of super-organisms - fruit flies, for instance, that can live double their natural life-span and that die healthy and vigorous. Other laboratories have bred mice that can spontaneously regenerate parts of their bodies, constantly repairing the damage that is part of the ageing process. Controversially, some scientists are confident that their results can be extended to future generations of humans.

Ory Barnett who suffers from ProgeriaThrough studying the rare condition of Progeria, which seems to dramatically accelerate the ageing process in children so that they age and die tragically young, scientists have gained further insights into what causes our cells to stop dividing and start to die. And some scientists have been able to briefly reverse the process in cells in a test tube. But the question remains, will this become a feasible treatment in the future?

Injecting embryonic cells into the brain of a stroke victimThe most promising advance being tried at the moment comes from researchers who have discovered how to take human stem cells - unique embryonic cells that never age and never die, that have the power to repair or replace any tissue in the human body - and inject this elixir into the brain of stroke victims, partially reversing their brain damage. If this treatment could be adapted, in the future it might reverse many aspects of the ageing process.

Miller Quarles is hoping for a cure to old-age within the next decade.Through health care, and modern medicine, we have already made ourselves live longer than evolution dictates. The question is will any of the more extreme and futuristic areas of research give us immortality in the 21st century?

Mother and Child Reunion is a song written by Paul Simon, and is on his eponymous debut album. It was released as a single in 1972, and reached #4 on the American charts. The song was one of the earliest by a white musician to feature prominent elements of reggae. The name has its origin in a chicken and egg dish called "Mother and Child Reunion" that Paul Simon saw on a Chinese restaurant's menu. The song has been interpreted as a meditation on death, specifically the death of a mother and the hope of reunification in the afterlife. The references to a "strange and mournful day" may support this theory. The song was recorded in Jamaica with singer Jimmy Cliff's backing group; guitarist Hucks (often "Hux") Brown and bassist Jackie Jackson were also long-time members of reggae legends Toots and the Maytals. Cissy Houston, mother of singer Whitney Houston, sang background vocals on this song. The afterlife or life after death is a generic term for a continuation of existence after death, typically in a spiritual or ghostlike afterworld. Deceased persons are usually believed to go to a specific region or plane of existence in this afterworld, often depending on the type of person they are and the life they lived. Some believe the afterlife includes some form of preparation for the soul to be transferred to another body (reincarnation). The major views on the afterlife derive from religion, esotericism and metaphysics. There are those who are skeptical of the existence of the afterlife, or believe that it is absolutely impossible, such as the materialist-reductionists, who state that the topic is supernatural, therefore does not really exist or is unknowable.

Words & music by Paul Simon

No I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reu-nion
Is only a motion away, oh, little darling of mine.
I can't for the life of me
Remember a sadder day
I know they say let it be
But it just don't work out that way
And the course of a lifetime runs
Over and over again

No I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
But the mother and child reu-nion
Is only a motion away, oh, little darling of mine.

I just can't believe it's so,
and though it seems strange to say
I never been laid so low
In such a mysterious way
And the course of a lifetime runs
Over and over again

But I would not give you false hope
On this strange and mournful day
When the mother and child reu-nion
Is only a motion away,v Oh, oh the mother and child reunion
Is only a motion away
Oh the mother and child reu-nion
Is only a moment away

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