The day will come when people will have to pray for their death. Accident-related death will be a different issue. Spanish fortune-teller José Luis Cordeiro and British Mathematician David Wood co-authored a book, titled The Death of Death: The Scientific Possibility of Physical Immortality and its Moral Defence, five years ago. This publication is considered as an ambitious, as well as groundbreaking, exploration of humanity’s efforts to defeat the inevitable end, death. Springer Publication published the international edition of this book in July 2023, triggering fresh discussions on immortality.

While going through various research papers, Cordeiro and Wood noticed that researchers started considering decrepitude as a disease. And, it is quite possible to get rid of the same. They believe that advancement in nanotechnology, artificial intelligence (AI), cell regeneration, stem cell therapy, organ printing, organ cryopreservation and genetic therapy could take human civilisation to that point by 2045.

Cordeiro and Wood are of the opinion that decrepitude only makes elderly people weak, as a region of repetitive DNA sequences at the end of a chromosome, called the Telomere, begins to decrease. They have opined that it is also possible to reverse aging by prolonging decrepitude. During the launching of the international edition of his book in Barcelona, Cordeiro, a senior researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), claimed that he could become a fresh young man after 30 years.

Elizabeth Parish, the founder and CEO of the US-based biotechnology company BioViva Sciences, herself participated in two genetic trials in September 2015. She took two medicines manufactured by BioViva. The biotechnology company, focused on developing gene therapies to treat age-related diseases, claimed that its Myostatin Inhibitors could overcome age-related muscle weakness, while Telomerase Gene Therapy could slow the aging of cells. After 2015, Parish underwent the same treatment in 2022 yet again. She claimed that her age decreased by five years on an average annually. A recently published research paper has claimed that 52-year-old Parish is now only 25-year-old, physically.

Cordeiro recalled that Henrietta Lacks (born Loretta Pleasant) had died of terminal cervical cancer in 1951. Her surgically removed tumour is still lively in the laboratory. According to Cordeiro, curing diseases, like cancer, could be possible within a decade. He believes that big global business houses, like Google, may enter the medical field in the near future. He further said that initially such treatment would be costly, but would gradually become cheaper in the coming years. At a certain point, there may not be much difference between the price of a new smartphone and a new body part!

Cordeiro has opined that even if people start becoming immortal, there would not be a problem to find spaces for them. Drawing attention to the declining birth rate in Japan, South Korea and some other countries, he has claimed that human beings would start living on another planet by that time. Even after all these, the missile of a neighbouring country may hit a household in the future, or a car may run over a child. There is still no cure for all unwanted or accidental deaths, in spite of many such efforts.

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Facebook

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Twitter

Boundless Ocean of Politics on Linkedin

Contact: kousdas@gmail.com

Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das