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Defining this prize's Preferred Future State
NickOttens
Posts: 899 admin
For every prize, we define what we call a Preferred Future State.
This is not the end state of the competition, but rather a longer-term vision of the future the prize can usher in. Our prizes are designed to unlock innovation that, if properly nurtured, sets humanity on a path towards the Preferred Future State.
We welcome your feedback on what the Preferred Future State for XPRIZE Age Reversal should be!
It may include the following elements:
This is not the end state of the competition, but rather a longer-term vision of the future the prize can usher in. Our prizes are designed to unlock innovation that, if properly nurtured, sets humanity on a path towards the Preferred Future State.
We welcome your feedback on what the Preferred Future State for XPRIZE Age Reversal should be!
It may include the following elements:
- The biological aging process is dramatically delayed through widely available interventions that extend the human life- and health spans.
- Age-related illness are rare, and physical and cognitive deterioration are greatly reduced.
- Humanity has embraced the ability to remain youthful for a much longer time throughout physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy lives.
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Comments
Imagine it's, say, the year 2040 or 2050. It's been several decades since XPRIZE Age Reversal concluded successfully with a treatment to reverse aging, kicking off more research, more successful treatments, and spawning a whole industry in longevity. What does that future look like, and how is it different from if we hadn't had the XPRIZE?
This partially comes down to how you want to define biological aging. Is it a pathologic condition or not? It's difficult to call it a disease state if 100% of people undergo it. So is what we are fighting really aging or just age-related diseases?
Absolutely - this is an ongoing discussion in our prize design teams. We don't want to just add years at the end. Our priority is extending the healthspan, so people can live longer and healthier lives.
When it comes to the question of whether or not to define aging as a disease, one of the suggestion for our "Preferred Future State" is exactly that: aging being considered a disease. That would not only change the mindset, but change policy and unlock approval and funding for treatments.
Although living healthier AND longer lives can be part of our "Preferred Future State" - the future we want to (help) pull forward with this prize.
@jewhitson, @pscheck, @marky, @Jozef, @mashizaq, I'd like to ask your thoughts on this as well. Please join the discussion!
As quoted by @JeanHebert, whether we like it or not, no matter how much we try, the human body is made to fade away. Although we shall have extended our life expectancy, our different immune systems will play a major role on how far this process can go. Eventually, at one time our lives will be no more.
@Jozef I agree, we don't know yet how to re-engineer genomes to achieve increased life expectancy. An even bigger issue I think is that even when we do know, implementing DNA changes to all or most cells of the body without causing significant unwanted side effects (e.g. using viral vectors?) is hard to imagine (unless of course you are replacing existing cells with re-engineered cells). For a new generation, genome engineering might one day be doable. But for already existing individuals, even re-engineering their genomes will have little effect on the bulk of age related damage, which happens to be in extracellular proteins and carbohydrates in connective tissue (that turns over very little, and in some cases not at all, during the course of a lifetime.
Developing an artificial cell that can replaces low turnover proteins is pure science fiction at this point, although I do think you bring up a good point about how those low turnover proteins may be a good place to focus any therapeutics. Reversing the accumulation of post-translational modifications is another potential target for rejuvenation, and something that we already know drugs can do. Currently I believe that reversing the epigenetic landscape of cells holds the greatest potential in terms of dramatic lifespan extension.
Although this brings up another aspect of lifespan. Average lifespan is not just based on aging, it's based on tons of other biological and societal factors too. There are a million things that could be done to greatly increase average lifespan without stepping foot into a lab. If cars were banned tomorrow, the number of deaths in early life would dramatically decrease and average lifespan would increase by several years. So it is worth considering, when talking about lifespan, if you are talking about average lifespan or maximum theoretical lifespan. But if it's the latter and you don't address the first, are you really accomplishing much?
we can finally live in the same way as before, but without the overnight fear of losing everything because of cancer or neurodegeneration . In other words, we have added continuity to the human experience. Today our lives are made of ruptures (we are healthy, we get hurt, we get well, we get sick, we get better, we get older, etc...), but tomorrow these same lives could gain in continuity, to enjoy a perennial, acquired good health,
In other words, aging chronologically is "having time to do", aging biologically is "no longer having the ability to do". And it is a paradox, a limit, that we would have overcome
Interesting point! I think our attitude toward aging, at least in the Western world, now leans toward the negative. We think more about the negatives than the positives of getting older. Rejuvenation could flip that.
@sheesh, @Robin, @shevschenk, @abhikgupta, you may also have thoughts on this. What is the long-term future we should aspire to create with an age reversal XPRIZE?
Therefore: "Reversal of all biomarkers in at least one individual person, by a minimum of five years, from the first date of testing to the second date."
My conclusion was that if I am careful to minimize periods with inadequate protein intake, then I should live healthier and longer. So, I try to include high-quality protein in my meals. The proteins of choice are eggs and milk (or milk products). Quantity of protein is not the goal, but rather good complete protein eaten frequently in the day. The body should rest at night.
I think the experiment has been fairly successful. I may add that I follow the teachings of Adelle Davis, who emphasized the importance of good nutrition in fighting infections and disease.
2. I would like to see certain paths to getting old closed off. I do not like the idea of brain deterioration before death. Dementia of various sorts needs to be wiped out; I can accept that I do not run as fast or have the stamina for some tasks as I get older. But we should aim for making certain that as we age we get mentally sharper. Our creative work, whether it be art, or science, or government administration should be improved. as we get older. The idea that your best math work is done before forty seems to me to be something that should become quaint. This is really essential if our economies are to thrive because people are going to have to work for a very long period to earn a living. Pensions that start at fifty and continue for fifty years are a ridiculous idea that is ruining many economies. Rather, we should have programs that give us more money as we get older so we can take more interesting trips, tackle more ambitious projects etc. But I do not think we need a future Willie Mays or Mickey mantle belting homers at age eighty. A lot of sports are really kids ' games and we should mature out of them into more complex and socially productive activities.
What do you think should go into it?
Absolutely!
We don't want to end up in a future where longevity is only available to the rich and powerful.