Does This Creature Hold The Key To Immortality?

Much of science fiction has become science fact. Is immortality or ultra-longevity within our grasp?

Barring stem cell infusion and eliminating the mechanisms that cause the nodes on our cells to eventually wear down/out which makes them no longer replicate themselves, does The Moon Jellyfish hold the answer?.

http://www.weather.com/news/jellyfish-immortality-clues-20121206

Kill it with fire before it lays eggs.

@The_Lunact_And_Manic said:

Kill it with fire before it lays eggs.

Said the troll to the mirror.

@TheSwordsman said:

@The_Lunact_And_Manic said:

Kill it with fire before it lays eggs.

Said the troll to the mirror.

Ok, but I don't want a bunch of 200 years old people running around in the next years.

@The_Lunact_And_Manic said:

@TheSwordsman said:

@The_Lunact_And_Manic said:

Kill it with fire before it lays eggs.

Said the troll to the mirror.

Ok, but I don't want a bunch of 200 years old people running around in the next years.

Oh. Mistook your meaning. My apologies.

I agree that longevity is not the best thing for a species that proliferates as we do. However, Someone will develop a means to extend lives decades and even possibly centuries whether it is wise or not. Humans born in the next few decade will likely live to be 100+ or perhaps 125+ simply because of medicine and medical techniques. It looks like increases longevity is an inevitability.

Edit: Also if you do not take advantage any longevity drugs or procedures you would not have to live to see 200 year old people as you will likely die before 90 yrs old or less.

@TheSwordsman said:

@The_Lunact_And_Manic said:

@TheSwordsman said:

@The_Lunact_And_Manic said:

Kill it with fire before it lays eggs.

Said the troll to the mirror.

Ok, but I don't want a bunch of 200 years old people running around in the next years.

Oh. Mistook your meaning. My apologies.

I agree that longevity is not the best thing for a species that proliferates as we do. However, Someone will develop a means to extend lives decades and even possibly centuries whether it is wise or not. Humans born in the next few decade will likely live to be 100+ or perhaps 125+ simply because of medicine and medical techniques. It looks like increases longevity is an inevitability.

No problem.

Well, sad but true.. I think in the next years ( And by years, I mean a lot of years ), humans may live up to 300 years, I hope not, humans are too dumb, but, it seems inevitable....

We're already hugely overpopulated. I don't think longevity will solve that problem.

While I wouldn't mind living past my expiration date, this sort of topic/subject seems to be bringing out the crowd who think senior citizens should be euthanized the moment they hit 60. It's dangerous, in my opinion (plus the fact that I still have a grandparent alive makes me even the more concerned over situations like this.)

@The_Lunact_And_Manic said:

@TheSwordsman said:

@The_Lunact_And_Manic said:

@TheSwordsman said:

@The_Lunact_And_Manic said:

Kill it with fire before it lays eggs.

Said the troll to the mirror.

Ok, but I don't want a bunch of 200 years old people running around in the next years.

Oh. Mistook your meaning. My apologies.

I agree that longevity is not the best thing for a species that proliferates as we do. However, Someone will develop a means to extend lives decades and even possibly centuries whether it is wise or not. Humans born in the next few decade will likely live to be 100+ or perhaps 125+ simply because of medicine and medical techniques. It looks like increases longevity is an inevitability.

No problem.

Well, sad but true.. I think in the next years ( And by years, I mean a lot of years ), humans may live up to 300 years, I hope not, humans are too dumb, but, it seems inevitable....

We humans are an intelligent species, we simply aren't very wise and for the most part do not care about long-term ramifications or about those who have to live with said ramifications.. Selfish and unwise yes, but intelligent nonetheless.

It is indeed, as I said, inevitable that future generations will live longer and longer because of medicine, medical techniques, and improved nutrition, exclusive of any longevity-increasing techniques or processes which may extend lives even further.

We don't really need the Jellyfish, the regeneration gene is already present in our DNA. Though thanks to the p21 gene, it is dormant. Immortal humans is a dangerous game. The only possible benefit from it is manned space travel to incredibly remote locations. Otherwise the only thing immortal humans would be good for is overwhelming our natural resources. Bottom line either humans have to die, or we have to stop breeding.

I totally made a thread about this already

Immortal Jellyfish - Comic Vine

@YourNeighborhoodComicGeek said:

We're already hugely overpopulated. I don't think longevity will solve that problem.

Agreed. Increased longevity will only exacerbate the problem. But it is indeed inevitable.

@Necrotic_Lycanthrope said:

While I wouldn't mind living past my expiration date, this sort of topic/subject seems to be bringing out the crowd who think senior citizens should be euthanized the moment they hit 60. It's dangerous, in my opinion (plus the fact that I still have a grandparent alive makes me even the more concerned over situations like this.)

I am sure that crowd is the minority thank goodness.

@Matchstick said:

We don't really need the Jellyfish, the regeneration gene is already present in our DNA. Though thanks to the p21 gene, it is dormant. Immortal humans is a dangerous game. The only possible benefit from it is manned space travel to incredibly remote locations. Otherwise the only thing immortal humans would be good for is overwhelming our natural resources. Bottom line either humans have to die, or we have to stop breeding.

There is always more than one way to achieve a goal. Utilizing information gleaned from the jellyfish's biology may be easier and more cost effective and less dangerous than altering someones genetic make-up.

I agree that it will be devastating to our eco-system and resources. It is still, however, an inevitability. It is not a matter of if but a matter of when.

@Jonny_Anonymous said:

I totally made a thread about this already

Immortal Jellyfish - Comic Vine

That's awesome.

Hmmmmm. Imortality eh?

I don't want to live forever and honestly anyone who does isn't thinking it through properly.

@TheSwordsman: It's highly likely they will have to use genetic modification anyway. Aside from gene therapy, the only way to get someones body to behave in a new way would be with regular treatments of some kind. I don't see why we'd have to mess with the jellyfish since we have the same regeneration gene that they do. All we'd have to do is repress the p21 gene, which we are fully capable of doing in mice. So it's only a matter of time until someone tries it on humans.

It's not an inevitability, it's just highly likely.

I only will wish for longevity when we reach the space age.

Not surprising. Although personally, I think immortality shouldn't be given to anybody unless they have a practical use for it... Death has it's uses, no matter how terrified of it some people may be.

@Matchstick said:

@TheSwordsman: It's highly likely they will have to use genetic modification anyway. Aside from gene therapy, the only way to get someones body to behave in a new way would be with regular treatments of some kind. I don't see why we'd have to mess with the jellyfish since we have the same regeneration gene that they do. All we'd have to do is repress the p21 gene, which we are fully capable of doing in mice. So it's only a matter of time until someone tries it on humans.

It's not an inevitability, it's just highly likely.

As I stated: there are always more than one method to achieve a result. Gene alteration is not and will not be the only way to extend ones life. There is seldom an "only way" scenario to achieve similar results. We do not have the Moon jellyfish ability to age in reverse which is why scientists are studying it. Yes we can attempt to repress the P21 gene and may even succeed. This, however, is not and will not be the only method of life extension.

Humans living longer is not just likely: it is indeed an inevitability. Whether the mechanism for such longevity are simply improved diet and medicine and medical procedures, or gene manipulations, or some supplement derived from plants and/or animals or some unforseen new breakthroughs in science, we will indeed continue to live longer. It is, as I stated, an inevitability.

@StMichalofWilson said:

Hmmmmm. Imortality eh?

Indeed.

@joshmightbe said:

I don't want to live forever and honestly anyone who does isn't thinking it through properly.

Perhaps they are and simply do not share your views on the subject. What is not desirable to one individual may very well be to another. Individuality and personal feelings and decisions vary. It is what makes humanity varied and interesting. It would be quite boring if we all thought the same way and felt the same concerning everything.

@Agent9149 said:

I only will wish for longevity when we reach the space age.

We are, for all intents and purposes, in the space age.

@Dracade102 said:

Not surprising. Although personally, I think immortality shouldn't be given to anybody unless they have a practical use for it... Death has it's uses, no matter how terrified of it some people may be.

Deciding what is a practical use is will likely be subjective from one person to the next and who would make the decisions concerning whose use is practical? Death does indeed have it's place, not the least of which is controlling over-population.

Immortality is stupid.

A majority of people cant even figure out what to do on a Rainy Saturday.

And you want Immortality!

@TheSwordsman: You keep talking in absolutes when you really shouldn't be. You don't know what the future will hold anymore than I do. The sun coming up tomorrow is inevitable, humans attaining immortality is not.

@YoungJusticesaid:

Immortality is stupid.

A majority of people cant even figure out what to do on a Rainy Saturday.

And you want Immortality!

I am not a proponent of immortality, I am simply presenting evidence of man's quest for it and fostering a discussion concerning it.

Personally I definitely do not want to live forever nor do I want to live past my normal lifespan. But someone faced with dying may feel differently and I myself may change my views if faced with my impending demise and so you might as well.

@Matchstick said:

@TheSwordsman: You keep talking in absolutes when you really shouldn't be. You don't know what the future will hold anymore than I do. The sun coming up tomorrow is inevitable, humans attaining immortality is not.

I am typing not talking. it is not very difficult to extrapolate the future given what we already know. Immortality is, barring us being wiped out as a species, an inevitability whether you agree or not. The Sun does not come up, it remains in the same position the Earth simply rotates and the Suns rays contact portions of it. With that stated the Sun could be destroyed by a massive Jupiter-sized (or larger) meteor or comet at any given point so while it is likely we will see the sun tomorrow, the only inevitability is that the Sun will someday cease to exist for one reason or another.

@TheSwordsman: Immortality would also suck all the fun out of life.

I would like to live for a long time. At least as long as it needs to.

@joshmightbe said:

@TheSwordsman: Immortality would also suck all the fun out of life.

It would surely get boring.

@TheSwordsman: No matter what you want to do, if you live forever you're going to do it often enough to become completely bored with it and once you've accomplished everything you wanted, Then what?

@joshmightbe said:

@TheSwordsman: No matter what you want to do, if you live forever you're going to do it often enough to become completely bored with it and once you've accomplished everything you wanted, Then what?

@TheSwordsman said:

@joshmightbe said:

@TheSwordsman: Immortality would also suck all the fun out of life.

It would surely get boring.

@TheSwordsman: I was just elaborating on my point

@joshmightbe said:

@TheSwordsman: I was just elaborating on my point

I see. Well, they could always "opt out" if the decades and centuries become agonizing.

Mathew Bomer's character in "In Time" explained this.

Late.

We talked about this in eighth grade science class, and I totally asked if this was possible.

@joshmightbe said:

@TheSwordsman: No matter what you want to do, if you live forever you're going to do it often enough to become completely bored with it and once you've accomplished everything you wanted, Then what?

I'd do something else. The world isn't stagnant; humanity is constantly coming up with things to occupy their time. The "immortality is a curse" thing has become a little played out. Yes, there are downsides to being immortal. But there are some friggin' awesome upsides as well.

The getting bored thing is ridiculous. As stated, there is ALWAYS something else to invest yourself in and humans aren't going to stop making up new ones any time soon. Outliving friends and relatives would suck, but you do that now anyway.

Plus, if this is a medical breakthrough, you aren't going to be the lone immortal around. Plus, immortal doesn't equal unkillable. If you truly do start to tire of life, you can always go the euthanasia route. The only real problem with immortality is overpopulation. Everything else just comes down to personal views and opinions.

Saying "immortality is all bad" is as short-sighted as saying "immortality is all good".

could be it does..

Oooooooh the problems to come out of this would be something else!

People need to die. It's just the way it is

@TheSwordsman:

How much will it cost?

EDIT: and to your anti immortality bs propaganda

A blog with answers to the most commonly used 'cliche' debate points for against

@CozyDaPrynce said:

IMO Immortals > Gods

Why? In one story, Imhotep rose to Immortality and also above the Gods.

In another story, Buddha rose to immortality and commanded the Gods.

Humans = Immortal > everything else, =]

I think death is one of the main reasons science and technology has come so far. People seem to run out of ideas or get into ruts based on how they were taught in their younger years. I think death may be necessary or at least key in innovation. How many times through history has a new theory appeared that the older folks crush or massively slow down the adoption process? Standing on the shoulders of giants? Well you are the last giant. Or maybe with immortality they will rotate the population in and out of professions to make sure fields get new blood. It's very important.

Oh. One more thing (Uncle). Immortality means that everyone can finally become Batman. Well, if everyone has access to it. There's also the possibility that the procedure(s) or meds for it will be treated like a yacht. Been around for a looong time but most folks still cannot afford one. THAT would suck.

@CaioTrubat said:

I would like to live for a long time. At least as long as it needs to.

But not forever,right?

@mrdecepticonleader said:

@CaioTrubat said:

I would like to live for a long time. At least as long as it needs to.

But not forever,right?

No, not forever. I would like to have some longevity and achieve the things I want before I die. That is all. Besides, immortality can be a real drag when boredom starts to sink in.

No it doesn't. That is all.

@CaioTrubat said:

@mrdecepticonleader said:

@CaioTrubat said:

I would like to live for a long time. At least as long as it needs to.

But not forever,right?

No, not forever. I would like to have some longevity and achieve the things I want before I die. That is all. Besides, immortality can be a real drag when boredom starts to sink in.

Yeah I see what you mean.

Thats true not to mention the value of life would decrease if we where immortal.