Hey there
Today started a new project named Random Scientific Papers.
The work consists in spreading science by explaining published scientific papers that are interesting or awesome or just bizarre.
The first video consists in a great old dream for humanity: the decrease of mortality, breaking the boundaries of human lifespan.
It would be good indeed!
Still, the authors of the study suggest that the maximum lifespan is fixed because of natural constraints.
They justify this argument by studying late-life mortality, discovering that survival around 100 years of age declines rapidly, not increasing very much through the years. Basically, improvement in survival for centenarians appeared to plateau.
We need to wait a little more for data to become available and be able to draw a definite conclusion. The questions are relevant: what are the upper limits to human longevity? Can it be affected by pharmacological interventions?
The answer is that there is no scientific reason why such efforts could not be successful but we are always subject to strict genetic limitations.
Here is the video:
References:
Dong, X., Milholland, B., & Vijg, J. (2016). Evidence for a limit to human lifespan. Nature, 538(7624), 257-259. DOI: 10.1038/nature19793
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Legman
