A study conducted by scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York, USA provides confirmation through examination of living people.

Each time a cell divides, its telomeres erode slightly and become progressively shorter with each cell division. Eventually, telomeres become so short that their host cells stop dividing and lapse into a condition called cell senescence. As a result, vital tissues and important organs begin to fail and the classical signs of aging ensue.

In investigating the role of telomeres in aging, the Einstein researchers studied Ashkenazi Jews because they are a homogeneous population that was already well studied genetically. Three groups were enrolled: 86 very old — but generally healthy — (average age 97); 175 of their offspring; and 93 controls (offspring of parents who had lived a normal lifespan).

“Telomeres are one piece of the puzzle that accounts for why some people can live so long,” says Gil Atzmon, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine and of genetics at Einstein, Genetic Core Leader for The LonGenity Project at Einstein’s Institute for Aging Research, and a lead author of the paper. “Our research was meant to answer two questions: Do people who live long lives tend to have long telomeres? And if so, could variations in their genes that code for telomerase account for their long telomeres?”

The answer to both questions was “yes.”

“Our findings suggest that telomere length and variants of telomerase genes combine to help people live very long lives, perhaps by protecting them from the diseases of old age,” says Dr. Suh. “We’re now trying to understand the mechanism by which these genetic variants of telomerase maintain telomere length in centenarians. Ultimately, it may be possible to develop drugs that mimic the telomerase that our centenarians have been blessed with.”

[Source: Einstein University]

Almost a third of the “impact areas” listed here at SciTechStory contribute to the coming reality of an Extended Lifespan (also an impact area): DNA Decoding, Cell Biology, Brain Enhancement, Medical Robotics, Major Disease Cures, Nano-medicine, Bio-implantation, Neuro-intelligence, Scientific Instruments, Sensor Technology, Stem Cells, and Synthetic Organs. Collectively these impact areas represent the research work – and important advances – in a fleet of disciplines: Neuroscience, genetics, molecular biology, nanotechnology, robotics, gerontology, pharmacology…to name but a few. It’s not like expanding the span of human life is the be-all-end-all for most of this research, but for most it’s a direct result. If major diseases can be cured, people will live longer. If cell biology discovers how to reverse the deterioration of aging, people will live longer. If body parts can be repaired or replaced through bio-implantation, synthetic organs, or stem cells, people will live longer. And so forth…

A recent article in the English publication, The Guardian, highlighted the issue: Great expectations: today’s babies are likely to live to 100, doctors predict.

Most babies born in the past few years in the UK will live to be 100 if current trends continue, experts say.

And people could be living not only longer, but better, according to doctors writing in the Lancet medical journal, who say that most evidence shows the under-85s are tending to remain more capable and mobile than before. They have more chronic illnesses, such as cancers and heart conditions, but people survive them because they are diagnosed earlier and get better treatment.

Professor Kaare Christensen and colleagues at the ageing research centre at the University of Southern Denmark calculate that at least half the babies born in the UK in the year 2000 will reach their 100th birthday. Life expectancy is increasing so fast that half the babies born in 2007 will live to be at least 103, while half the Japanese babies born in the same year will reach the age of 107.

The ‘we’re going to live longer’ scientific literature is becoming common. Perhaps you have heard or read about it yourself. Do you believe it? [Personal anecdote: My father was lamenting to my aunt about the poor state of the world. This was in 2001. My aunt replied, “Yes, but we’re living longer.” She died at 93, despite life-long epilepsy and eventually Alzheimer’s. My father lived to 99.] The confirming statistics are everywhere: The number of centenarians is increasing by about 7% a year. The average life-span in Medieval Britain was 20-30 years. By the early 20th Century it was 30-40 years. Now it is approximately 75 years.

The question about when this will happen – when will most people live to 100? – is answered by “starting now, in developed countries.” Starting probably within a few decades for much of the rest of the world. Keep in mind that the world average is already at 65 years of life.

All this means that we’d better not forget demographics when it comes to looking at the future. For example, how should we plan for social security (of whatever kind), when people routinely start living 90-100 years? What happens to the nature of work, and employment, when the difference between the end of work (now around 65) and death is no longer ten or twenty years, but thirty and forty years? How do our health care systems adjust to a radically aging population?

These questions barely scratch the surface.

Meanwhile the research goes on, not just apace but at an advancing pace. People living now will benefit from the discoveries yet to come, but it’s our children who will see the most change and have to deal with the most consequences.