The Possibility of Human Immortality

‘Immortality is eternal life, being exempt from death, unending existence.’ (Wikipedia) Human immortality is humans being able to live indefinitely and overcome death.

In the 1800s, the average life expectancy was only 25 years. This has increased dramatically as we are now able to live longer, with an average life expectancy of 82 years. This is because of the continuous scientific research, medical solutions and progressions in technology.

There have been many scientific experiments carried out around the world, on how we can live forever. One specific study that was published in the National Academy of Science Proceedings stated that it was foolish to think that immortality can be achieved and that it was impossible to stop the ageing of multicellular organisms.

He said that the human body goes through two big changes. The first major change is that the cells in the body stop working and the second change is that the cells become cancerous as we grow older. It was discovered that trying to manipulate one of these mechanisms will only enhance the other and therefore a person's death is either due to cancerous advancement or cell damage. This cell damage leads to the deterioration of organs in the human body.

The author of this study says ‘As you age, most of your cells are ratcheting down and losing function, and they stop growing, as well’. He mentioned that some of the cells are growing rapidly growing with some growing very slowly, functioning very inadequately. He said that if we try to exterminate these cells that are poorly functioning, it causes the cancer to spread throughout the body and attempting to stop these fast growing cells will cause the sluggish cells to gather.

For many years, scientists have been exploring different ways to make it possible for humans to live forever. These methods include robotic avatars that allow us to upload replicas of ourselves into the future. But is this considered human immortality? If these copies are formed primarily of advanced technology, then we're not exactly human.

The first method that was actually researched to achieve immortality was longevity drugs. Drugs that activate the anti-ageing enzyme such as sirtuin 1, that can increase the life expectancy by 15%. Pharmaceutical firms are developing drugs to slow down the human ageing process. One example of this is Elysium, a drug corporation that created an NAD+ supplement to slow down this ageing process.

These pills slow down the ageing process in the human body. But this nothing more than a delay in death and not an everlasting cure to live eternally, proving that human immortality is not possible.

Synthetic methods such as metamaterial bionics are designed to create artificial organs to strengthen our bodies, making us live longer. Scientists are constantly finding new ways to integrate these bionics with inadequate human limbs and organs.

Bionics gives us the opportunity to lead better lives. For example, those with amputations can now have bionic substitutions which can indirectly increase the life span. Someone with a bionic leg may live longer than someone without one as they are able to avoid an accidental death, falling or being run over. Nonetheless, this can't be proved because accidental deaths cannot be controlled. This proves my opinion that human immortality is not possible.

To conclude, I think that human immortality is not possible. Humans cannot live forever and overcome death. All studied approaches have led to people living slightly longer and with better quality lives, but not indefinitely, which means that human immortality is not feasible at all.

Artificial limbs, robotic avatars and longevity drugs may be effective ways to prolong the lifetime of humans but I strongly believe that this is not the explanation for humanity living on earth forever.

My opinion is influenced by my religious beliefs. In the Quran, we are told, that every soul shall taste death, something I strongly believe in. I stick with the idea that, despite all medical research and scientific progress, it is impossible to live on indefinitely.