The Science and Technology of Growing Young summary

Today, we’re living with a diagnostic crisis. Health systems across the world are overburdened, and even the most competent doctors have little time to spend with their patients. 

In many parts of the world, people in rural or under-resourced areas have no access to doctors at all. That’s why, globally, over 100 million people have undiagnosed thyroid conditions, and 232 million people live with undiscovered diabetes. 

Teresa McKeown was preparing for her death. She was only in her early fifties, but she had stage three breast cancer. It metastasized and spread to her bowels. Grueling chemotherapy failed to treat it. Teresa was emaciated, in unbearable pain, and seemingly out of options. 

But then her doctor referred her to an experimental program at the Moores Cancer Center. This was her last resort. 

Imagine you could change and reprogram your genes, just like upgrading the software on your computer. Imagine you could engineer our diseases like cancer or viruses like HIV.

That might sound very far-fetched, but the truth is that scientists and doctors already have the technologies to alter our DNA, controlling or eliminating illnesses that we once thought were incurable. 

Science fiction novels and movies often predict technological innovations. But they also put their finger on the pulse of our cultural anxieties. Think of Frankenstein, for example, the story in which a man was created in a laboratory and turned into a monster. Or all the movies about robots taking over the earth. 

Well, the truth is that these scenarios are not that far-fetched. In fact, science has progressed to a stage where we can now create body parts in laboratories. And we already rely on prosthetic parts for operations like knee and hip replacements. 

In a viral YouTube video, a young girl is shown playing cheerfully in a park. She runs up to her mother and tells her that she’s missed her. Then the two of them sit down to light the candles on a birthday cake: the girl is turning seven. 

Tears stream down her mother’s face, but the girl tells her not to cry. After all, she’s not sick anymore. 

It’s possible to extend human lives. But is that really a good idea? After all, the planet is buckling under the strain of just supporting the current population. Now imagine if everyone lived a hundred years longer! 

Not everyone is a fan of the idea of extending human life. People raise environmental concerns or worry about morals: What if some humans used their immortal powers to enslave or terrorize their mortal fellow citizens? These concerns are valid, of course. But we can’t extrapolate from the present to judge what the future will look like.

If you’re in your twenties or even middle-aged, you can be sure that you’ll be able to benefit from the Longevity Revolution within your lifetime. Many of the innovations it promises are already there. But some are still in the early phase, or need time to refine. 

So, to reap their enormous benefits, you’ll need to make sure that you stay healthy for as long as possible. You shouldn’t just wait for robot surgeons to save you; your health is in your hands right now, and there’s a lot you can do to preserve it.