Will Baby Boomers Live 150 Years?

New research into aging has doubled the healthy life span of laboratory mice. This could mean that some baby boomers will be the first people to live 150 or more years. "It has become reasonable to believe that a practical remedy for aging is not far off," researchers Marvin Cetron and Owen Davies told the World Future Society, Bethesda, Md.

One source of optimism is melatonin, a hormone that seems to be related to aging. In experiments with mice, researchers manipulating the gland that produces melatonin significantly have extended the animals' life spans. Other research has focused on how to stop aging at the chromosome level. Scientists are learning how to resupply older cells with a natural enzyme called telomerase, which appears to extend the lives of cells.

Both avenues of research are teaching scientists where to look for an aging cure. "Once science can chart its way to new knowledge, the discovery is sure to follow," Cetron and Davies predict.

To live an extended healthy life appears to be a dream come true, but "agelessness" will raise many questions...