Christopher: Lucas, I read a wild statistic this week. The first person to live to 150 has already been born. That's not a sci-fi author's prediction; that's from a leading Cambridge gerontologist. It means someone, right now, is going to blow past all known records of human lifespan. Lucas: Hold on, really? Not in the future, but already born? That feels like one of those headlines you see and just assume is clickbait. My brain immediately wants to file that under "things that are technically possible but will never happen to me," like winning the lottery or understanding quantum physics. Christopher: Exactly. It feels like science fiction, but it's the core premise of the book we're diving into today: The Science and Technology of Growing Young by Sergey Young. And what makes Young's perspective so unique is that he's not a scientist or a doctor; he's a longevity investor. He runs a $100 million fund dedicated to these very technologies. Lucas: Oh, I like that. So he's not just reporting on the science; he's literally putting his money where his mouth is. He's betting on this future. Christopher: He's building the future he's describing. The book is his roadmap, and it argues that we're on the verge of a revolution that will fundamentally change what it means to grow old. Lucas: Okay, so if we're seriously talking about living to 150 or even 200, what does that even look like? Is it just 80 extra years of being old and frail? Because honestly, that sounds more like a curse than a blessing.

Christopher: That's the first myth the book dismantles. The goal isn't just extending lifespan; it's extending healthspan. The aim is to, as one expert in the book puts it, "die young at an old age." It’s about feeling 40 when you’re 90. The book introduces this idea of "longevity escape velocity." Lucas: Longevity escape velocity. That sounds like something out of Star Trek. What does it mean? Christopher: It's a concept from futurist Ray Kurzweil. The idea is that we'll soon reach a point where for every year you stay alive, science will be able to extend your life by more than a year. So, your life expectancy starts running away from you, and you could potentially live indefinitely. Lucas: Wow. That is a massive paradigm shift. We're so used to thinking of life as this finite resource that's constantly ticking down. The idea that the finish line could keep moving further away is... unsettling, in a fascinating way. Christopher: It completely changes the game. And it highlights how much we underestimate our own potential lifespan. There's a fantastic story in the book about this, concerning a French woman named Jeanne Calment. Lucas: I think I’ve heard of her. Didn’t she live to be incredibly old? Christopher: The oldest documented person ever, she lived to be 122. But the best part is the story of her apartment. When she was 90, she made a deal with her 47-year-old lawyer. It's a common deal in France called a 'viager.' He would pay her a monthly fee until she died, and then the apartment would be his. Lucas: Oh, I see where this is going. He thought he was getting a steal. A 90-year-old woman, how much longer could she possibly live? Christopher: Exactly. He made a bet against her longevity. Well, not only did she outlive him, but after he died, his family was legally obligated to keep making the payments. She collected that monthly check for over 30 years, and ultimately got more than double the apartment's value. Lucas: That is the single greatest, and worst, real estate deal in history! It’s hilarious. But it's a perfect illustration of the point. We are all that lawyer, fundamentally underestimating how long we might live. Christopher: We are. And the book argues that with the coming wave of technology, the gap between our expectations and reality is about to get much, much wider. But you asked the key question earlier: even if we can, do we want to? The book cites a Pew Research report where 56% of Americans said they would not want to live to 120. Lucas: I get that. It taps into that deep-seated fear, famously captured by the band Queen, "Who wants to live forever?" We associate extreme old age with decay, irrelevance, and loneliness. Christopher: Precisely. And Young's answer is that you'll want to live longer if you can feel younger. That's the promise. It’s not about adding years to your life, but adding life to your years. And that promise is being built on a foundation of incredible new technologies.

Lucas: Okay, so let's get into the toolkit. If we're going to rebuild the human body to last 150 years, what are the tools we're using? Christopher: The book breaks it down into four main pillars, and each one is a revolution in itself. The first is DIY Diagnostics. The idea is to move from sick-care to true health-care by catching diseases before they even start. Lucas: So, less about going to the doctor when you're already sick, and more about constant monitoring? Christopher: Exactly. Think of it this way: we have smoke detectors in our homes, but not for our bodies. The book tells this powerful little story about a baby whose parents were using a device called an Owlet 'smart sock.' It tracks the baby's heart rate and oxygen levels. One morning, an alarm goes off. The baby had stopped breathing. They were able to intervene and save their child's life because of this tiny, wearable sensor. That's the future of diagnostics—constant, non-invasive, and life-saving. Lucas: Wow. That's a powerful example. It takes the idea from an abstract concept to something deeply personal. Okay, what's the second tool? Christopher: The second is the one that gets all the headlines: Genetic Engineering. Specifically, technologies like CRISPR. This is about editing our source code. The book shares the story of Victoria Gray, a woman who suffered from severe sickle cell anemia. It's a debilitating genetic disease. Lucas: I know it causes excruciating pain and can be fatal. Christopher: Her life was a cycle of hospital visits and blood transfusions. But she became one of the first people in the world to be treated with CRISPR. Doctors took her bone marrow out, used CRISPR to edit the faulty gene in her cells, and then infused the corrected cells back into her body. Lucas: Wait, they edited her DNA outside her body and then put it back in? How is that even possible? Christopher: It's an incredible process. And the result? A year later, her pain attacks and hospital visits had stopped completely. She was, for all intents and purposes, cured of a disease that was written into her very DNA. Lucas: That's a miracle. That's not just treating a symptom; it's fixing the fundamental error. It’s like fixing a typo in the book of life. What's pillar number three? Christopher: Pillar three is Regenerative Medicine, or what the book calls "Your Body 2.0." This is about repairing and replacing worn-out parts. And the story here is just as mind-blowing. It's about a man named Chris Barr, a surfer who broke his neck and was paralyzed from the neck down. A quadriplegic. Lucas: Oh man, that's devastating. Christopher: Doctors gave him virtually no chance of walking again. But he became 'patient number one' in a Mayo Clinic study. They took stem cells from the fat in his own belly, processed them, and injected them into his spine. Lucas: Stem cells from his own belly fat repaired his spine? That sounds like something out of a movie. Christopher: It does. But within months, he started to regain movement. And eventually, he stood up and walked. He went from being completely paralyzed to walking on his own. It's a testament to the body's potential to heal itself, if we just give it the right tools. Lucas: That's just... I'm speechless. It gives you chills. Okay, what's the final pillar? Christopher: The fourth is "Longevity in a Pill." This is about finding compounds that can target the aging process itself. The most promising one discussed is Metformin, a common, cheap, and safe diabetes drug. Studies have shown it can extend lifespan in animals, and human trials are underway to see if it can slow down a whole host of age-related diseases. It's not a magic bullet, but it's a huge step towards treating aging as a medical condition.

Lucas: Okay, the technology is mind-blowing. I'm sold on the possibility. But this brings up the huge question the book tackles head-on: should we do this? What about overpopulation? Resources? The planet is already strained. Christopher: This is the heart of the final section of the book, "The Morality of Immortality." And Young frames this debate perfectly through a conversation he had with a skeptical, Harvard-educated friend named Alex. Alex makes all the arguments you just did: climate change, famines, water shortages. He basically says extending life would be global Armageddon. Lucas: And I think a lot of listeners would agree with Alex. It seems like a logical conclusion. Christopher: It does. But Young's counter-argument is that this is Malthusian thinking, a fear that has been proven wrong time and time again. Malthus predicted mass starvation in the 1800s because he couldn't foresee the agricultural revolution. Young argues we're doing the same thing now, underestimating our ability to innovate. He points out that global agricultural output has increased by 60 percent in the last forty years, while using just 5 percent more land. Lucas: That's a powerful statistic. But it feels a little techno-optimistic, doesn't it? Critics of the book, and there are some, point out that these solutions often create new problems, like social inequality. Will only the rich get to live to 150? Christopher: You've hit on the single biggest challenge, and the book acknowledges it. Young calls it the mission to "democratize longevity." The cost of these technologies is falling exponentially. Sequencing a human genome went from $3 billion to a couple of hundred dollars. The hope is that gene therapies and regenerative medicine will follow the same curve. But ensuring equitable access is the great moral test of this revolution. Lucas: And it also raises the ethical minefield of things like germline editing. The book mentions the He Jiankui 'CRISPR babies' controversy in China, where a scientist edited human embryos. How do we draw the line between curing disease and creating designer babies? Christopher: That's the tightrope we have to walk. The scientific community overwhelmingly condemned what He Jiankui did, and it shows the urgent need for global ethical guidelines. The power to rewrite our own biology is arriving, whether we're ready or not. The conversation about the rules of the road needs to happen now, not after the fact.

Christopher: Ultimately, the book's message isn't just about the science. It's a fundamental reframing of our relationship with time and aging. It argues that aging isn't a destiny to be accepted, but a problem to be solved. The real revolution is that shift in mindset. Lucas: It moves aging from the realm of philosophy into the realm of engineering. And it leaves us with a powerful question. If you knew you could live a healthy life to 150, what would you do differently today? What would you learn? Who would you become? Christopher: It's a huge question. The book isn't just a guide to living longer; it's an invitation to live more deliberately. It forces you to think on a much grander timescale. Lucas: It really does. It makes you reconsider your career choices, your relationships, your long-term goals. The implications are massive. Christopher: We'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Find us on our socials and let us know: what would you do with an extra 50 healthy years? What would you change about your life right now? Lucas: I can't wait to see those answers. It's a question that will stick with me for a long time. Christopher: This is Aibrary, signing off.