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Comment by misiti3780 | Hacker News Reader

I just finished a book by Nick Lane where he discussed how he believes aging is cause by mitochondrial free-radical leakage. His hypothesis (and he is a smart guy) is that science will allow people to live longer, but probably not much longer than 125.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20021368

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His hypothesis (and he is a smart guy) is that science will allow people to live longer, but probably not much longer than 125.

Not exactly! I just finished the same book and the exact quote is: I doubt we will ever find a way of living much beyond 120 by merely fine-tuning our physiology.

So he's a smart guy indeed! He says that there still may be ways to extend lifespan, but they have to be more radical compared to just fine-tuning physiology.

>but probably not much longer than 125.

enter new organs growth. Any organ, except for the brain, could be replaced by a new one, and thus there is no limit. Brain probably too can be updated in some ways, we just don't know how yet.

im not a biologist (anyone qualified to comment please do) but i dont think the new organs will stop the free-radical leakage. it occurs in every cell in your body, organs are only a small portion of those cells.

As a layman it seems far easier to repair existing damage using nanomachine than to replace organs.

Not really. We have organ-growing capability, we don't have organ repair capability. It's easier to repurpose the former than invent the latter.

I highly recommend the book - Power, Sex, Suicide - that the parent is referring to. Nick Lanes other long form book, Oxygen, is also very, very good.

What's the book? Would like to read it. Thanks.

The Vital Question. As a layman -- and an audio book listener -- this wasn't an easy book to get through! Still, it caused me to sit and think a little, and that was the whole point.

Thank you. (audiobook listener also)

it is talked about a bit in The Vital Question [1] and a more in depth in Power, Sex, and Suicide [2]

His books are honestly life changing, i can recommend them or him enough.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Vital-Question-Evolution-Origins-Comp...

[2] https://www.amazon.com/Power-Sex-Suicide-Mitochondria-Meanin...

Thank you.

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