Future Man To Be 800-Year-Old

Jan 23: Ever thought how it would be like living forever? Even if not eternity, what about having a life of 800 years.

Don't shrug it off as an unrealistic possibility because scientists have now created a genetically engineered organism that lives 10 times longer than normal. ''It is the greatest extension of longevity yet achieved by researchers investigating the scientific nature of ageing and is directly relevant to human ageing and longevity,'' lead researcher Valter Longo said.

Experts created a strain of yeast fungus that could live for 10 weeks or more, instead of dying at its usual maximum age of just a week by deleting two genes within the yeast's genome and putting it on a calorie-restricted diet.

''We're setting the foundation for reprogramming healthy life.

If we can find out how the longevity mechanism works, it can be applied to every cell in every living organism,'' the Independent quoted Mr Longo as saying.

''We are still very far from making a person live to 800 years of age. Yet, I don't think there is an upper limit to the life of any organism,'' he said.

The study also provided a theory that ageing may not simply be a side-effect of the wear and tear of life, but was a genetically programmed condition designed to rid the population of aged individuals to make way for younger ones.

Many experts on the science of ageing, however, are deeply sceptical about the idea that the ageing process could somehow be circumvented, allowing people to extend their lives by decades or even centuries. ''The whole [anti-ageing] movement not only becomes science fiction; it is also breathtakingly arrogant,'' they maintain.