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With a New Afterword
Must We Age?
Nearly all scientists who study the biology of aging agree that we will someday be able to substantially slow down the aging process, extending our productive, youthful lives. Dr. Aubrey de Grey is perhaps the most bullish of all such researchers. As has been reported in media outlets ranging from 60 Minutes to The New York Times, Dr. de Grey believes that the key biomedical technology required to eliminate aging-derived debilitation and death entirely—technology that would not only slow but periodically reverse age-related physiological decay, leaving us biologically young into an indefinite future—is now within reach.
In Ending Aging, Dr. de Grey and his research assistant Michael Rae describe the details of this biotechnology. They explain that the aging of the human body, just like the aging of man-made machines, results from an accumulation of various types of damage. As with man-made machines, this damage can periodically be repaired, leading to indefinite extension of the machine’s fully functional lifetime, just as is routinely done with classic cars. We already know what types of damage accumulate in the human body, and we are moving rapidly toward the comprehensive development of technologies to remove that -damage. By demystifying aging and its postponement for the nonspecialist reader, de Grey and Rae systematically dismantle the fatalist presumption that aging will forever defeat the efforts of medical science.
—Paul Boutin, The Wall Street Journal
KeikoHP
Posted September 12, 2009
This book reviews ways to reverse the aging damage in our bodies. I am not an expert and so cannot comment on whether this book is accurate or authoritative. However, I really hope that someone finds ways to do what de Grey suggests. The book's science is extremely interesting, and, at least to a layman, the book is well worth reading for that alone.
I have a couple of regrets about this book, however. One is that the method de Grey suggests for ending the threat of cancer, would also end male fertility forever. De Grey doesn't seem to mind this. I sure would, however. My second regret is that throughout the book, de Grey comes across as a con artist or snake oil salesman. I know that the journal Nature bothered to review this book; I believe de Grey is telling the truth when he says he has been a scientist. But I don't know what to think about his fundamental honesty and reliability. I would hesitate greatly before sending money to his Methuselah foundation, even though I dearly want aging cured as soon as possible.
Spiridonov
Posted March 2, 2009
Dr. de Grey's book is a compelling call to research and implementation of medical techniques that can potentially lengthen life and improve quality through those years. Although he considers the aspects of aging he addresses comprehensive (and they are each important), he neglects the grosser aspects of aging: arthritic deformities, loss of teeth, skin changes, organ distortion and enlargement and hormonal changes. It is nevertheless an important and exciting treatment of the frontier of age management medicine.
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Overview
With a New Afterword
Must We Age?
Nearly all scientists who study the biology of aging agree that we will someday be able to substantially slow down the aging process, extending our productive, youthful lives. Dr. Aubrey de Grey is perhaps the most bullish of all such researchers. As has been reported in media outlets ranging from 60 Minutes to The New York Times, Dr. de Grey believes that the key biomedical technology required to eliminate ...