He stood motionless in the silence for almost a minute but the butterflies in his stomach started to attack again and he decided to try to distract them with a self-guided tour. Richard Draman followed Mason’s assistant to the library where she left him standing alone beneath towering bookshelves. What about overpopulation? What if it was too expensive for all but the wealthiest people? Would there be religious implications? But mostly, if someone managed to develop such a therapy, what would they be willing to do to keep it for themselves? Excerpt One We’ve already modified tomatoes with flounder genes, why couldn’t we do something similar to ourselves? Heck, how can we be sure someone hasn’t?Įven more interesting than the science, though, are the social ramifications.

Lobsters, for example, seem to keep going until they get injured, sick, or dipped in butter. Most people don’t know it, but some animals don’t get old. The bottom line is that the day we will no longer age has gone from science fiction to just around the corner. More than a few brilliant people have pondered this subject and their ideas are fascinating-everything from obvious strategies for reprogramming our genes, to strange plans for artificial replacement parts, to downright bizarre schemes for downloading our consciousness into computer simulations. With all the advances in stem cell research and genetics, why do I have to suffer through it at all? But, in my case, it also led to questions about the inevitability of aging. It might be that thinking about mortality is like gray hair and the propensity to start sentences with “these kids today”-just another unavoidable aspect of getting older.

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