Berlin. Eternal life – for some it is a dream. Others think: at some point, it must be over. The first instinct is probably to take it forever Science fiction keep. A group of thinkers and researchers gathered in the think tank The Millennium Project, on the other hand, defends the thesis: immortality is possible. And it is desirable.

“Death due to old age will ultimately be the last remaining disease,” says Spanish project director José Cordeiro. But she too can be defeated in the near future. “In any case, I have no intention of dying,” he says, holding up the infinity symbol on his iPhone screen for the camera.

Age, the #1 killer

The engineer and futurist, as he calls himself, has written a book: “Victory over death. The scientific possibility of living forever and its moral justification” (Finanzbuch-Verlag).

Also his co-author David Wooda computer scientist, is convinced: “If society makes the fight against the number one killer, aging, a priority, there is a 50% chance that the technology will be available in 2040.” Read also :How Jeff Bezos searches for the formula for eternal life

Appearances in Silicon Valley and Dubai

The man is not made for eternity, he hears it again and again, says Cordeiro. He thinks that’s an outdated belief. “People aren’t made to fly either,” he says. “Now we are flying to the moon.” Both have spread their message wherever there are people who believe in feasibility and not in limits. Where money seems to make everything possible: at the technology fair in Silicon Valley, at the future forum in Dubai.

At some point in your childhood, you realize you are going to die – a painful realization. And the one who inspires people – to cultural and scientific excellence. “Carpe diem”, meaning “seize the day”: Horace‘ Ancient Wisdom is now available as a coffee mug or wall tattoo. After all, death comes to everyone, for it we are all equal.

A tiny jellyfish holds the secret to eternal life

Which of course is not true. Life and death are about money. The natives of Monaco today have an average of 89.5 years ahead of them, compared to 53.7 in the Central African Republic. The super-rich have long been working on a magic potion for a much longer, if not eternal, life.

Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder, Investor Yuri Milner and other billionaires banded together to stop the aging process. Together they pump millions into a biotech start-up called Altos Labs. There, the best scientists in the world are working on the rejuvenation of human cells.

According to the current state of science, 150 years are in

They are not slowed down by current knowledge: according to an international study from 2021, this is potentially the highest level age at 150 years old. However, some of the researchers involved in the study believed that such interventions could do more, much more.

The authors pin their greatest hopes on a primitive animal called Turritopsis dohrnii. The jellyfish, which measures only a few millimeters and lives around Mallorca, is the only known multicellular organism capable of regenerating itself. This makes her potentially immortal. “Now that we have these jellyfish study, we will soon find a solution”, Cordeiro is convinced. If the talent for rejuvenation could be transferred to human cells, eternity on earth would be within reach.

Backup of the brain, including consciousness

There are other approaches: stem cell treatment, gene therapies, tissue regeneration, cryopreservation, with which cells in liquid nitrogen can already be kept alive almost indefinitely.

It can also be lucky artificial intelligence (IA) offer. One day it may be possible to create a digital backup of our brains that is so accurate that it also contains consciousness.

Approaches to an ageless virtual existence can already be found everywhere: Madonna, who created an eternally young self on Instagram. Abba sending holograms on tour with his image from 1979. Avatars that mimic the speech of the deceased and are intended to help bereaved people cope with grief.

The idea of ​​always like man-machine Existing from bits and bytes may terrify some people more than finding eternal rest in the graveyard at some point.

Expanding into space creates space for fit seniors

In general – shouldn’t we at some point free up a place at the buffet? A world overflowing with old people manipulated by cells – where should they all go anyway?

thanks to genetic nutrition, laboratory meatgiant skyscrapers and an expansion into space, it’s no problem to provide for and house everyone even with a declining death rate, believes author Wood.

“We need a more human evolution”

But isn’t renewal the most powerful force in all life on earth? “There can be renewal even without old age or death,” he says. “We should evolution can’t see through rose-colored glasses. It is full of suffering and blind to the individual. We humans can create a better and more humane evolution.

Cordeiro regards infinite existence as absolutely desirable. “More life means enjoying more love, more knowledge, more art,” he says. “Life is beautiful!”

This article was first published on morgenpost.de