We can all live ‘forever’ - and we need to talk about it

Throughout our entire lives we are told that aging is a completely natural and unavoidable part of life, one that should even be appreciated despite its outcome. The idea of biological immortality seems distant to most, and even a thing of fantasy stories, but it is widely unknown that it is already present in Nature in many different forms. In this article I’ll introduce you to the concept of aging as a disease, tell you where our scientists are when it comes to curing it, debunk the most popular pro-aging myths and tell you how you can be a part of this change.

Immorality in Nature

Creatures like mole rats, lobsters, crocodiles and many others do not show any signs of aging, meeting their ends through other means, such as predation, disease or simply growing too large to self-sustain (starvation). In the seas of Japan, the famous immortal jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii behaves much like a phoenix, turning back its biological clock to a newborn whenever it’s faced with a dangerous wound. While less prevalent in Nature, it’s clear that biological-immortality is as natural as mortality itself, neither inevitable nor universal. Perhaps aging should not be seen among humans as an untouchable law of life, but as a major disease that we should actively fight against. But on a biological level, what is aging?