Interesting perspective. Keep em coming. Eric Nelson moderator At 06:06 PM 98 01 16 -0800, you wrote: >OpEd piece posted to iwar and g2i: > >This fountain of youth on the human odyssey long enslaved the soul of >adventurers and treasure seekers, and now we may actually find it in the >laboratory. Everything in this day and age seems to exponentiate -- >longevity of life included. The birth rate's finally showing signs of >dropping as third world nations enter superindustrialization. Most >projections -- of necessity inaccurate -- predict the top off population >level at 12 to 20 billion humans by about 2040 or so (U.N., WHO, etc.). The >projections do not, however, take into account the exponentiation of >increasing longevity, for which biotechnology aims, and which it might >actually enable. > >The message must be carried across the world: stop breeding, and start >taking care of the rest of life here. We've done so much damage. If we live >to be 200, or 2000, we might actually learn something. Maybe we humans will >try to do some good work for the neighbors, instead. > >In the current real world, several interesting science projects will have >astounding implications. The ECHO project and other artificial life and >intelligence experiments may spawn intelligences beyond our own, who >replicate and evolve their essences a billion times faster than our >molecular DNA. The physics crew are hard at work on wormholes and spooky >action -- that bit a while ago about transferring a particle across a >distance with no relativistic time lag really caught my eye. There's >teleomeres, cloning, and most notably, straight up genetic engineering. >There's nanotechnology and superconductors. There's fusion and future >subatomic power sources. They finally got a sustainable fusion reaction >going, though with negative power output. Fusion, as opposed to nuclear >fission power, produces low radiation, uses sea water as fuel (50 gallons >could theoretically power New York City for a year), and sustains a >reaction that doesn't chain when uncontained but instead almost immediately >shuts itself down. > >Free electricity, free food, free material goods of most kinds -- yes, >technology will change the "political economy". If you feel you've got to >stop these things because then you'll be out of a job, you need to get with >it; stop destroying and start moving forward. Use your imagination. There >will be new things to trade, and new things to think about. It's essential >we develop peace coexistant with personal freedoms of thought and >communication, to help ensure the continuing progress of the builders' >projects. It started before the Temple of Solomon. Occasionally some army >of ignorant savages burns part of it down, but overall, it doesn't look >like it can be stopped...whatever it is.... > >Longevity technology like the teleomere work mentioned below may make >standard humans live several hundred years, but what happens to the more >adventurous among us? Read a science fiction tale, Hyperion, and its >sequels, by Dan Simmons. They are better than dear John's Revelation, in my >humble opinion. Hyperion calls the adventurous ones the "Ousters". In the >21st and 22nd centuries, say the books, the Ousters engineer their DNA and >RNA and use robotic and biotic nanotechnology to enhance and change their >form of life down into the sub-molecular level. They decide not to populate >other earth-type planets, but to populate the darkness of space itself. >They engineer themselves to adapt to extremely harsh conditions. Some have >great angel wings and live in zero gravity; others take into them parts of >plants and use photosynthesis to survive on barren worlds. They are >persecuted by the "normal humans" as mutants and abominations, to the point >of interstellar war, but they are beautiful, and they represent the >continuation of changing life. > >Their philosophy contrasts with that of the parasitic artificial >intelligence and the stagnant human population under their insidious >control. The regular humans go on doing what they've always done -- invade >someone else's land, take over, kill off most of the existing species and >import their own world to assuage with carnal violence their neurotic and >irrational fear of the unknown. The Ousters of Simmons' novels do not >assault life where it already thrives; they instead bring life to where it >does not yet exist. There are some A.I.s who side with them, too. > >They moved on. I want to move on. The real world is much bigger than the >form of the human ape and our conceited drive to destroy anything not like >us. > >The interesting idea sourcing in some of the ancient buddhism and kabbalah >scripts is...do we even need technology to do all this stuff? Maybe we just >don't have any idea of the kinds of things we can do just by thinking. >Maybe, thought Socrates, we just need to remember the things we knew before >we arrived. > >Mark Hedges > > > >>This has long-term societal implications, one of those breakthroughs >>that if carried forward will radically change the political economy. >>--MW >> >> Tuesday January 13 6:30 PM EST >> >>Human Cell Lifespan Extended >> >> NEW YORK (Reuters) -- For the first time, researchers have confirmed >> that the "clock" thought to control aging in human cells does indeed >> dictate that process. What's more, they have found a way to circumvent >> the process -- extending the lifespan of normal, healthy human cells, >> according to a report in Science. >> >> The finding has "profound" implications for the study of cancer, which >> may use the same process to escape the aging process, according to an >> editorial accompanying the study. >> >> And it may lead to treatment for human disease caused by worn out cells, >> such as macular degeneration -- the leading cause of blindness in those >> over 65. >> >> "This research raises the possibility that we could take a patient's own >> cells, rejuvenate them, then modify the cells as needed and give them >> back to the patient to treat a variety of genetic and other diseases," >> said senior investigator Dr. Woodring E. Wright in a statement released >> by the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. "The >> potential long-term applications are simply staggering," said Wright, a >> professor of cell biology and neuroscience. The study was a >> collaborative effort involving researchers at the medical center and at >> Geron Corp., in Menlo Park, California. >> >> Most cells will divide roughly 50 times in the laboratory before >> entering a resting state known as senescence, a process that also occurs >> in the body. For more than a decade, researchers have suspected that >> telomeres, sections of DNA at the tips of chromosomes, control that >> process. >> >> Like minutes ticking on a clock, a piece of telomere is lost each time >> the cell divides. But some cells contain an enzyme, called telomerase, >> that can re-build the telomere after cell division. >> >> In the new study, the gene for telomerase was inserted inside three >> types of cells that don't normally carry the enzyme -- retinal pigment >> epithelial cells, foreskin fibroblasts, and the vascular endothelial >> cells -- or those lining blood vessels. In contrast with cultured cells >> that have telomere shortening, the genetically engineered cells >> continued to vigorously divide and have long telomeres. >> >> The treated cell population doubled at least 20 more times than normal >> and continues to grow, according to the report. The new findings confirm >> that telomeres are the "clock" that keeps cells from growing out of >> control, according to an editorial by Titia de Lange, of the Laboratory >> for Cell Biology and Genetics at The Rockefeller University in New York. >> And that mechanism has all "the makings of a powerful tumor suppressor >> system," de Lange wrote. >> >> "The results should strengthen the determination of those who are >> searching for telomerase inhibitors as potential anti-cancer agents." >> SOURCE: Science (1998;279:349-352, 334-335) > > >
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