What can be immortal. Physical immortality - is it possible? Immortality and modern science
Gilbert Chesterton owns the lines about the fragility of our being, full of inspired poetic sound: “I felt and feel that life is bright like a diamond, but fragile like a window glass, and when heaven was compared to a crystal, I shuddered - as if God would not break the world to smithereens.
But remember, the beating one is not doomed to perish. Hit the glass - it won't last even a second, take care of it - it will live for centuries. "
Dreams of eternal life (in the physical sense) torment people from time immemorial. (According to legend, King Solomon was so wise that he refused to accept the elixir of immortality, not wanting to live longer than people close to him.)
Scientists of antiquity and alchemists of the Middle Ages, doctors and healers, kings and commoners were engaged in the invention of the elixir of immortality. Sometimes attempts to achieve immortality or at least to rejuvenate led to the opposite result. Chinese Emperor Xuanzong (VIII century) died after taking the elixir of immortality. In ancient China, it was believed that Taoist monks possessed the secret of such a drug (apparently, this belief was born due to the fact that Zhang Daoling (34-156), the founder of the philosophy of Tao, at the age of 60, with the help of an elixir made by him, managed to rejuvenate and live to 122 years).
In the Renaissance, there are cases of death of old people who transfused the blood of young men. The book of A. Gorbovsky and Yu. Semenov "Closed Pages of History" contains a number of amusing old recipes for making the elixir of immortality, starting with advice to crush a toad that has lived for 10 thousand years, and ending with this recommendation from an ancient Persian manuscript: freckled, and feed him with fruits up to 30 years, then lower him into a stone vessel with honey and other compounds, enclose this vessel in hoops and hermetically seal it. After 120 years, his body will turn into a mummy. " The contents of the vessel had to be taken according to certain rules, which guaranteed at least an extension of life.
However, the old chronicles provide food not only for irony. There is evidence (albeit of varying degrees of reliability) of the ancients achieving successful results in prolonging life. An ancient legend says that the Greek priest and poet Epimenides managed to extend his life up to 300 years. Pliny the Elder writes about a certain Illyrian who managed to live up to 500 years. According to the chronicles, Bishop Allen de Lisle, being a very old man, took a mysterious potion in 1218 and extended his life for 60 years. It is said that the Chinese Li Tsunyun (1680-1933) smoked the sky for 254 years, having survived 23 wives during this time. The twenty-fourth became his widow. In our country, the record of Shirali Muslimov from the village of Barvazu (Azerbaijan, Lankaran region), who allegedly lived for 168 years - from 1805 to 1973, was promoted for a long time.
Modern examples of long life are not so impressive, but still set up an optimistic mood, because they say that our estimate of the species life expectancy of a person may not be accurate and that we die so early not because of genes, but because of unfavorable the impact of the external environment, their own negligence and similar factors.
However, modern studies of geneticists still make this hope illusory. So, the life span of laboratory animals of the same species (but different lines), kept in absolutely identical conditions, can differ by almost 2 times, which indicates the genetic determinism of their life span. As another proof, genetics cite the fact of a relatively small difference in life expectancy in identical twins, even if fate bestows on them dissimilar conditions of existence.
According to most gerontologists, now the limit of human life expectancy is 120 years, and the Guinness Book of Records claims that there is not a single reliable case of celebrating the 121st birthday. Information about the life expectancy of some famous centenarians of past centuries, according to experts, is explained by the fact that father and son or relatives who bore the same name or title were taken for one person. The longest documented life of 120 years, 137 days was lived by the Japanese Shigechiyo Izumi. He died of pneumonia on February 21, 1986.
The number of centenarians in highly developed countries is growing at a good pace. For example, in the United States, in just four years (from 1974 to 1978), the number of people who have reached the age of 100 increased from 8317 to 11992. As of July 1, 1989, there were 61 thousand people who crossed the 100-year mark. Gerontologists predict that of Americans living today, one in 20,000 will live to be 100 years old, and one in 2,500 will live to 95. Since 1900, the average life expectancy in the United States has increased by 26 years.
Mountain villages in different countries have long been famous for their long-livers. People living in the central regions of Sri Lanka, in the Andes, in the Caucasus are breaking records of life expectancy. In 1979, 241 people over the age of 90 lived in Abkhazia - 2.58 percent of the total population. But the highest concentration of centenarians (people over 100 years old) is in the small mountain village of Bama in southern China. Here, in the Guangxi region, there are 58 centenarians per 220 thousand people. The percentage of 80- and 90-year-olds is also very high. They are busy with peasant labor and at their age they feel very cheerful. Thus, the peasant Luo Maseng turned 130 in 1990, but she is going, according to her, to live to 200. Lann Boping is 19 years younger than her. For the last 61 years of his life, he actively smokes and drinks a glass of strong rice wine twice a day (this is the question of diet). This wine is considered by some to be the elixir of longevity. It is produced at a local factory in the amount of 300 thousand bottles per year and is intended only for
local residents. The composition of the wine infusion is very complex, for it includes about forty different herbs and plants, dried snakes and lizards, and - close your eyes! - dried canine and deer genitals (penises). However, in the village of Bama there are centenarians who have never tasted this drink in their lives.
Whole institutions are now dealing with the problem of longevity (and, in the future, immortality). But in the domestic press periodically there are reports of single enthusiasts trying to prolong a person's life as long as possible. Biologist Suren Arakelyan is convinced, for example, that rejuvenating the body today is quite an achievable task, and even now it is possible to plan to overcome the 120-year milestone for most people. In the future, the figure of 300-500 years seems quite plausible to Arakelyan. On what does he base his conclusions? On the theory of physiologically beneficial fasting (PPG). He began his experiments with old Japanese chickens, prescribing them a seven-day PPG with the simultaneous introduction of an anti-stress drug. The old, obsolete chickens have transformed: they have grown new feathers, the comb has disappeared, the voice has become almost chicken, and the motor activity has sharply increased. Then Arakelyan transferred the experiments to cows and pigs. Bottom line - life expectancy with a monthly rest of a cow once a year with the use of PPG increases 3 times!
The mechanism of this phenomenon, according to the scientist, is as follows: during physiologically beneficial starvation, the body "seems to be undergoing major repairs. Sodium comes out of the cells, and potassium gets in its place from the intercellular space. It's just the replacement of one chemical element with another, and But sodium salts - remember the process of salting - contribute to the preservation of organic substances.With normal nutrition, all waste products are preserved in the cells, including toxins - the main cause of aging ... To remove toxins - to prevent aging.That is why regular FPG - reasonable prevention of the "living machine".
Arakelyan has been trying his method on himself since 1965 (he was born in 1926). In 1983, giving an interview to the Trud newspaper, the scientist said that he had suffered from chronic gastritis and stomach ulcers, but now he has not only recovered, but does not even have a mild cold. Arakelyan goes on hunger strike on the first, second and third of every month, one week - once every three months, two weeks - once every six months and a month - once a year. At the same time, he drinks only water with the addition of an anti-stress drug, plus some physiological cleansing procedures. For daily nutrition, the scientist recommends a two-time (per day) meal consisting of 50 grams of raisins or two raw carrots, or one orange, apple, or 100 grams of fresh cabbage, or 50 grams of peas, beans, lentils, or 100 grams of raw wheat grains. , buckwheat (pearl barley) groats. In his years, Arakelyan feels excellent, plays easily with a pound weight.
Similar studies were carried out by employees of the Institute of Physiology of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. With the help of a special diet, they "rejuvenated" two-year-old rats to a state characteristic of three months of age. English biologist Cleve McKay achieved a 1.5-fold lengthening of the life of mice with the help of two hungry days a week, and reducing the diet by a third allowed them to increase their life by 2 times. A special diet and the use of certain vitamins are proposed for prolonging life and the Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling.
In 1988, the Yunost magazine published an article about the drug invented by the gerontologists T.L. Nadzharyan and V.B. Mamaev. Their goal is to ensure that aging processes occur in the body not at 35-50, but at 60-80 years. “Unlike traditional gerontology,” says T.L. Najaryan, “considering aging as a continuous process that proceeds monotonously throughout human life, the school of Academician N.M. Emmanuel, to which we belong, adheres to a different concept. , scientists have deduced from them signs of aging, in something very similar to those that occur in living organisms. Take the usual polyvinyl film. The time comes, and it becomes cloudy, loses its flexibility, various cracks form on it. For her, this is traits of old age. In humans, in our opinion, similar symptoms are diseases. Having studied a huge clinical material, we come to the conclusion that the frequency of diseases, for example, of the circulatory system in people roughly corresponds to the level of their mortality. And leading diseases, primarily cardiovascular disease. vascular, oncological, are precisely the diseases of aging. That is, old age is realized through diseases. The starting point from which we proceed , is that people do not die from old age, but from diseases: from myocardial infarction, stroke and cancer. And it is diseases in the aggregate that make up the pathology of aging. "
Laboratory of Quantitative Gerontology at the Central Clinical Hospital of the USSR Academy of Sciences, headed by T.L. Najaryan, developed a test system with which a computer can identify and measure the pathology of aging in the body. Thanks to this, scientists can predict the onset of various stages of the disease and even calculate how many years a person has left to live. But the lifespan, according to Najaryan, can be extended with the help of antioxidants - "substances that prevent harmful oxidative processes in the body ... And among them, dibunol attracted special attention of specialists ... The method of its production is quite simple and cheap. It has a long shelf life. And suddenly doctors began to notice that dibunol has a positive effect, in particular, on the human circulatory system. Increases the elasticity of blood vessels. Resistance of the myocardium to stress. It is an anticarcinogen, has an antitumor effect. Antioxidants, and in particular dibunol, have been successfully used in the treatment of myocardial infarction. , bladder cancer, stomach ulcers, various burns and even periodontal disease. All this, taken together, strengthens the belief that antioxidants can serve as highly effective geroprotectors - substances that slow down aging. This assumption has been fully confirmed in animal experiments. "
T.L. Najaryan complains, however, that the current practice of introducing medications is unlikely to allow dibunol to be recognized as a geroprotector before 25 years from now.
(Other substances are proposed as geroprotectors. According to MM Vilenchik, a researcher at the Institute of Biophysics of the USSR Academy of Sciences, "in order to increase the body's resistance to aging and related diseases ... in the future, a complex of substances that enhance repair ("repair" of DNA. - AL) and possessing antioxidant properties. Probably, this protective complex will include beta-carotene, vitamins C and E, selenium, the enzyme superoxide dismutase ".)
Some Western researchers (for example, the Italian Claudio Franceschi) also draw an analogy between aging and cancer, considering them two sides of the same coin. But they do not shift the blame for cancers to the "programmed" aging of human cells. The problem, in their opinion, lies in the effectiveness of the cellular defense system.
Typically, a tumor develops because the activity of some genes, the so-called oncogenes, that control cell proliferation are disrupted, says Ettore Bergamini, associate professor of general pathology and director of the Research Center on Aging at the University of Pisa. All other DNA fragments affect aging. If a harmful activating agent damages genes that are not involved in the control of cell division, then this causes distortions in the DNA code, which, accumulating over time, contribute to aging.
But still, many scientists are inclined to the idea that our death is not the result of wear and tear of the body, but is "programmed" at the genetic level. Rather, it is not death that is programmed, but the aging of the organism, which, in turn, leads to its death. The experiments of L. Hayflick are widely known, who proved that "critical" cells (of the brain, heart, nervous system) divide about 50 times and then die irrevocably. Moreover, the number of divisions is, as it were, recorded in the cell nucleus, which contains DNA. So if the nucleus of one cell, for example, divided 40 times, is transplanted into a young cell (divided 5-10 times), then this young cell will make 10 more divisions and die.
Hayflick's experiments seem very convincing, but Albert Rosenfeld writes in Geo (Hamburg) that the "Hayflick limit" did not make the proper impression on other researchers. “What happens to isolated cells in artificial laboratory conditions,” says American endocrinologist W. D. Denkla, “has nothing to do with how the whole body ages, or even how the experimental cells would age in the body itself. which ultimately is their natural environment ... If we consider the main causes of death, then they can be reduced to the failure of one of the two most important physiological systems - either the cardiovascular or the immune. "
Denkla substantiated the theory that aging is controlled by the "hormonal clock" in the human brain. The researcher worked with old and young animals, some of which had their pituitary gland removed. In addition, he exposed experimental animals to the action of thyroxine, a hormone produced by the thyroid gland and having a decisive effect on the activity of the cardiovascular and immune systems of the body, the failure of which is the main cause of death in highly developed countries.
In old animals with a removed pituitary gland, treated with thyroxin, Denkla achieved a striking effect of rejuvenation, which manifested itself in the work of the cardiovascular and immune systems and even externally, for example, in the increased growth of wool. These rats not only looked "younger", but the data of their biochemical and physiological examination corresponded to much younger animals ...
Research results indicated that the reason for the aging of rats lies in the pituitary gland. If this gland is removed, the aging process is suspended and even appears to be reversible. Denkla suggests that as puberty is reached, the pituitary gland begins to secrete a hormone that causes aging. He called this hypothetical hormone DECO (short for "decreasing oxygen consumption" - "reduced oxygen consumption", one of the signs of an aging cell). Some have already talked about the "old age hormone" and "death hormone".
But if the hypothesis of the "hormonal clock" is correct, then what causes aging and cell death in Hayflick's experiments, when the role of centralized hormonal control is completely excluded? Oddly enough, Denkla could answer this question with the results of his own work. Having found out during his research that the intensity of metabolic processes in experimental animals is controlled by the thyroid gland, he simultaneously discovered that a small part of the metabolism seems to proceed independently of the thyroid gland. Denkla called this "the genetic share of metabolism."
Thus, we are dealing with a double control mechanism. What the "border guards" (hormones) do not find, the "customs officers" (genes) will take away. Well, the fact that these services "work" in interaction with each other is a matter of course. You can also use another metaphor - the "genetic clock" turns on the detonator of the bomb (aging of the body), securing the "hormonal clock".
(Perhaps, VV Frolkis, professor of the Institute of Gerontology of the Academy of Medical Sciences, said that it is not aging that is genetically determined, but the structure of metabolism in the body. ")
However, everything is not so simple here, because in addition to the experiments of Hayflick and Denkl, there are numerous experiments and theories of other scientists.
To rejuvenate the body, the Swiss doctor P. Nigans suggested injecting serum from the tissues of newborn fallow deer into it. Scientists from the 2nd Moscow Medical Institute managed to double the life of experimental mice with the help of royal jelly of bees. American Robert A. Wilson, working on the problem of returning youth to women, proposed a technique that combines a special diet with injections of the female sex hormones estrogone and progesterone. The Swedes are trying to do the same with the hormone thymosin. Suppression of "free radicals" with the help of antioxidants - fragments of molecules with a high electrical potential - is the basis of their experiments by scientists from many countries. There are experiments on rejuvenation by transplanting embryonic tissue (brain). I will also mention attempts to lower our body temperature. The lower the temperature, the slower all physiological processes go. According to some researchers, a decrease in body temperature by only 2 degrees Celsius will allow us to push the boundaries of species life expectancy to two centuries. A decrease by 4 degrees will give a fantastic result in general - 700 years of life! At the same time, the quality of life (performance, feelings, etc.) will remain the same.
The domestic researcher A. Kostenko is convinced that aging is based on the accumulation of hydroxylapatite Ca5 (PO4) 3OH, the "mineral of death" formed during the life of the body, similar to how scale is formed in a teapot. Apatite is the main inorganic constituent of deposits on the walls of blood vessels, the main constituent of solid formations in the human body.
"The point of view" we grow old because we save something ", as well as the competing theory of the" gene of death ", - writes Kostenko, - cannot by themselves explain the probability of death at one age or another. -year-old is not worse than a 100-year-old? " According to Kostenko, chronic diseases of the body, leading to its death, are caused by the body's attempt to wash out the "mineral of death." Since apatite is practically insoluble in a neutral environment, the body has to fight it with the help of self-acidification, which is achieved with the help of ... diseases. "Cancer tumors secrete lactic acid. In case of immunity disorders, the destruction of apatite is facilitated by tissue breakdown products. And so on, and so on. Hence the unpleasant compensation, such as: less cholesterol in the blood, a healthier heart - more chances of cancer, and vice versa. This means that if, for example, a victory over cancer is won, the average life expectancy will not increase - other diseases will take the place of cancer. "
Kostenko sees a way out of the impasse in the artificial acidification of the body (for example, with the help of carbon dioxide), referring to the experiments of the physiologist I.I. Golodov, doctor K.P. Buteyko and experiments carried out by him himself together with other researchers. "... I periodically subjected mice more than a year old to acidic washing in an environment enriched with CO2. The condition of their eyes and hair improved, they showed a clear improvement in the state of DNA, proved by analysis, in comparison with the control group, that is, the number of defects accumulated with Life expectancy has increased by 131 percent, and four mice are now in their fifth year, which equates to approximately 220 human years. " Kostenko conducts experiments on himself, claiming that he has recovered from chronic diseases, looks much younger, improved physical performance, etc.
Well, better health, longer life is good. But many people, not heeding the example of King Solomon, yearn for eternal life ...
Moscow biochemist Nikolai Isaev is one of those idealists who hopes to defeat death while still alive. Giving an interview to journalist S. Kashnitsky, the scientist first of all pointed to a maple tree with swollen buds planted in a tub:
- This tree is immortal.
- Why? - the journalist was surprised. - I see that the tree is growing in a tub, not on the street, obviously in greenhouse conditions (it happened in winter).
- Do not confuse maple with ficus, palm or other evergreen. The deciduous tree of the middle lane sheds its leaves in the fall, no matter what ideal conditions we create for it. I call this maple looped. This means that the age returns to the same mark every three weeks. When the buds grow a little, but have not yet matured, I pluck them out, every one of them. Thus, I artificially prevent the plant from entering the yellowing phase of the leaves. A tree deceived in this way starts all over again - buds appear again. Twenty days later, it was removed again. And so on without end ... A similar experience continued abroad for a hundred years. In the Mexican agave, which usually lives for ten years, the generative shoot was cut off in the last year of its life. A year later, he grew back. It was cut off again ... The 10th year of the plant's life lasted a century.
Isaev argues that there is a complete analogy between plants and animals in this respect. As proof, he cites paleontological data - on the border of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic, as a result of some reason (possibly a radiation impact), the species life expectancy sharply jumped - in plants and animals at the same time. There is also a rat experience. Her climacteric period, usually equal to several days, was artificially extended to 40 days. Twice a day, the rat received a drug that did not allow menopause, thanks to which it retained its biological age, time seemed to have stopped for its body. Isaev regrets that the experimenters did not continue this work until two years, so that the rat would overcome its species age limit. When asked how he represents the realization of immortality for a person, the scientist replied:
- The analogy with plants and animals remains. The principle is the same: it is necessary to artificially suppress in the body those products that "turn on" the next age phase. These products are known to biochemists. There are three of them. For two of them, inhibitors are known - substances that chemically bind the products of interest to us and transfer them into an inactive state. It remains to find a "brake" for the third product. The task is real.
- Well, is it really that simple? - the journalist did not calm down. - Maybe then it's time to sign up for the line for immortality? By the way, if you write down what will you do with me?
- The first thing that comes to mind is injections. But, of course, giving injections every 8-12 hours, and each of the three substances separately, is a terrible hassle. So, perhaps, in a month you will get tired of living - what kind of immortality there is! I think biologists and physicians will help apply Zhen Jiu therapy methods to inhibit age switch foods. It is known that in China and Japan, many centenarians used moxibustion with wormwood cigars, breaking all records of average life expectancy. Their experience will be useful to everyone entering the era of immortality.
Isaev says that many biologists have become interested in his theory, in particular the oldest Soviet geneticist, academician N.P. Dubinin. However, the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences rejected Isaev's proposal to fund a test of his theory on animals. Of course, at first glance, dilettantism and quixotism clearly stand out here. Is it possible with a swoop, in such a primitive way, to stop the genetic clock in our body? Moreover, this watch, according to a number of scientists, has a "safety net".
However, attempts to influence the genetic program of the organism are being undertaken by many scientists, and often not without success. I.Vishev reminds of a number of them in his book "The Problem of Personal Immortality": "... encouraging results have been obtained that convincingly testify to the mobility of the species limits of life and the possibility of prolonging the period of youth. BA Kaurov, for example, notes that life expectancy bee drones that die immediately after fertilization of females, in the case of their isolation from females, increases 8-10 times compared to the species norm; immature salmon with remote gonads live several times longer than normal individuals; if you save an annual plant from flowering, then its life span can be increased to several years; in the case of removal of the adjacent bodies in house crickets, they live twice as long as the rest, and after death they retain the morphological and functional features of a number of organs inherent in the young stage of imagonal life. , deliberately inapplicable to a person and can only cause a smile, and in the very fact of an extraordinary noble mobility of species boundaries ".
Today, the species limit of human life is determined by different scientists in different ways - from 86-88 to 115-120 years. Some also call fantastic numbers of 150-160 years. The real life expectancy is, of course, lower. In the USSR in 1984-1985, it was 64 for men, 73 for women. The following statistics are curious: 190 famous people of antiquity lived on average 71.9 years, and 489 European celebrities who died in 1901-1910 lived on average a year less.
Extending the life span by 5, 10, 50, 500 years only delays the moment of death. Is physical immortality achievable in principle? Can we trick the cells of the body, forcing them to divide not 40-60 times, but endlessly?
(Since the time of A. Weismann, there has been a debate about whether protozoa are immortal (we are talking about their lack of a programmed destruction process). If this is so, then under certain conditions multicellular organisms could acquire the same quality. However, there are many arguments in favor of this that death (the presence of a cell destruction mechanism determined by nature) is one of the basic laws of the organization of life at any level.)
Probably, overcoming physical death in the future is possible. Having managed to change the genetic program, it is possible to achieve an eternal renewal of the cellular substance (including the brain) with the preservation of the information field (soul) in it. If we go the other way - transplanting the brain into a new body (synthetic or donor, grown by cloning), then it is important here that consciousness is not interrupted for a moment. Otherwise, the "new" person (body, shell) will indeed be new (that is, different), despite the previous consciousness. Thus, we will receive a copy and not a refurbished original.
From the point of view of physics, immortality requires the creation of such a system that gives up no more energy to the external environment than it receives (or, more precisely, maintains an absolutely equal exchange in the "object-environment" system). In fact, we are trying to create a biological version of the perpetuum mobile. But is such a dynamic equilibrium possible? And how much information volume should the system be so that, existing only within itself, it does not perish? So far, all scientific and socio-historical experience suggests that the undeveloped system is doomed. Therefore, we need to accumulate information and energy for permanent existence. Since our bodies are perishable, this task is entrusted not to individual individuals, but to the entire community of people.
Note that, despite numerous wars and epidemics, the power supply of mankind and the amount of processed information grows exponentially. Over the past 50 years, we have produced more energy than in the entire previous history of civilization. According to some expert estimates, if the rate of energy mastery does not decrease, then in 300-400 years we will colonize the planets of the solar system, and in a thousand years we will populate the nearest stellar systems. Naturally, such power will allow solving the problem of physical immortality of a person. True, then the question will arise about the limit of saturation with information of the brain (here again an analogy with a computer suggests itself). Will the "hard disk" of our brain be so capacious as to hold information obtained over hundreds and thousands of years of existence? Or will he have to make a selection, erasing old, unnecessary records? However, hundreds, if not thousands, of such questions will arise. Solving them now is like carrying water in a sieve. So let's do better not with the future, but with the past.
Excerpt from a book
Immortality of man
We, as embodied spirits, are connected with our body only by the temporary periods of our earthly wandering. Completing its earthly path, our body grows old, decrepit, dies and decomposes into those basic chemical elements from which it was taken. "For dust you are, and to dust you will return," God said to Adam who had sinned.
By the way, "not so long ago, scientists materialists proudly ridiculed the Bible's testimony that the human body was created from the" dust of the earth ", but later, from analyzes of protoplasm and the entire human body, scientists were convinced that this truth of the Bible is absolutely true and fully consistent with all scientific data.
Yes, a person dies ... But not the whole person, but only his body, "for the visible is temporary," and the spirit that left the human body continues to exist, because "the invisible is eternal." "And the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it."
Science has established that matter and energy could not create themselves out of nothing, and even less capable of being destroyed by themselves. They can, however, change from one state to another. This indisputable fact is recognized by all groups of scientists.
Another similar fact, following from the first, is as follows: if it is impossible to destroy without God one single atom of matter, "the smallest speck of dust of the Universe", and we willingly agree with this, then how can we admit the thought that the incorporeal and incorruptible spirit of man who left the body ceases to exist?
We say that with the death of the body, it decomposes into its constituent elements. But what is decomposition if not the division of one or another substance into two or more parts? Therefore, decomposition is inconceivable without the presence of matter subject to decomposition. These are the laws governed by matter. But that which is not matter, but represents the psychic, mental and spiritual side of man, is not subject to the laws of matter and is not subject to division or decomposition. From this it follows that since the soul, as a spiritual substance, is not subject to division, then it cannot die and decay, it cannot disappear.
The Creator says to people: "you are immortal" and the soul that loves God unquestioningly accepts and believes in this Divine revelation; but people, "through the craftiness of their hearts and the stubbornness of their will," try to convince themselves that "everything ends in the grave" ...
Is it not indicative that proud "scientists" and "cultured people" are ready to recognize any monkey as their distant ancestor, just to put an end to the question of immortality and remove the thought of God the Creator from their vicious consciousness?
Of course, God gave us free will and each of us has the right to choose: to believe or not to believe in God, to recognize or deny the spiritual principle in man and the afterlife. But will our unbelief destroy the afterlife? Does our hidden skepticism or open and convinced denial of the entire invisible spiritual world change the situation?
God does not prove to us the existence of a human soul after death, but He repeatedly shows this on the pages of Holy Scripture. God gives each person a special right to check the truth of immortality, just as a person checks and makes sure of the existence of the law of gravitation, in the presence of electricity, in the possibility of hypnosis, etc. the material world. If a person is in no hurry to discover these laws and apply them in his earthly life, it is only because he does not want to obey either these laws or their Lawgiver.
The spirit of man is immortal and physical death is powerless to kill him. Someone reasonably compared a person to a book: the human body is paper, turned by typographers into a beautiful, solid volume, and the human soul is the ideas and thoughts contained in the content of this volume. Throw the book into a blazing fire and it will burn, turn to ash; but only one paper will burn, and by no means the ideas or thoughts expressed by the author on this paper. The content of the book does not burn out - it continues to live in the minds and memory of the people who read it. For “nothing is lost from God” ... (Isa. 40th chapter.) Scientists are convinced that from the day of the creation of the Universe to the present moment, not a single atom of matter has disappeared, but only changed its forms.
The horror of death and the thirst for life, experienced by people at the thought of their complete disappearance, are known to each of us, if not from personal experience, then from observation. Therefore, the overwhelming majority of mankind has always believed and continues to believe in the immortality of the human soul, and only an insignificant number of “all-knowing-screamers” deny it, having absolutely no reason for that. Belief in immortality, rooted in the consciousness of the entire human race and passing from one generation to another , from generation to generation, must be based on the immutable Truth, otherwise what lie would be able to survive all the attacks, trials, tests and persecutions to which the Truth was incessantly subjected? This important historical fact and phenomenal phenomenon remain to this day without a scientific explanation.
Some scientists, denying the immortality of the soul, recognize the immortality of dead matter, do not believe in the beginningless and infinite Creator of the Universe, but willingly believe in the beginninglessness and infinity of space in which the Universe revolves. They believe that the entire Universe is supported by the law of gravitation, and do not believe in the Almighty, Who created this law of attraction and keeps everything by this law. If scientists admit that everything is supported by the law of gravitation and such a belief does not bother them, then why should they be confused by the fact that the Almighty first created everything and established laws, and then began to keep everything?
The mystery of immortality is great and incomprehensible to the mind, but it also ceases to be a mystery to us when we cognize God and are reconciled with Him. To the question: is there immortality? - a true believer boldly answers: where there is an Immortal God, there must be incorruption and eternal life.
"To the King of ages incorruptible, invisible, the only wise God, honor and glory forever and ever, Amen" (1 Tim. 1 st chapter).
From the book Has Religion Made a Useful Contribution to Civilization? by Russell Bertrand From the book Orthodox Dogmatic Theology the author Pomazansky Protopresbyter MichaelImmortality of the Soul Belief in the immortality of the soul is inseparable from religion in general, and even more so is one of the main subjects of Christian faith. It could not be alien to the Old Testament. It is expressed by the words of Ecclesiastes: “And the dust will return to the earth, which it was; and the spirit will return to
From the book Dogmatic Theology the author Davydenkov Oleg3.1.6.3. Immortality Immortality is a property of angelic nature (Luke 20, 36). But how are angels immortal: by nature or by grace? There are two patristic opinions on this issue. The first is expressed by St. John Damascene. He believes that angels are immortal not by
From the book Gods of the New Millennium [with illustrations] author Alford Alan3.2.7.4. Immortality The soul is a simple and uncomplicated being, and that which is simple and uncomplicated, that which is not composed of various elements, cannot collapse, disintegrate into its constituent parts. In the New Testament, the belief in the immortality of the human soul is clearly expressed.
From the book In the beginning was the Word ... An Exposition of the Main Biblical Doctrines the author author unknown From the book The Book of Jewish Aphorisms author Jean NodarImmortality. Scripture reveals to us that the eternal God is immortal (see 1 Tim. 1:17). Indeed, He is “the One who has immortality” (1 Tim. 6:16). He is not created, but has life in Himself. It has no beginning or end (see chapter 2 of this book) Scripture nowhere speaks of immortality as
From the book Questions to the Priest the author Shulyak SergeyConditional immortality. At creation, “the Lord God created man from the dust of the earth, and breathed the breath of life into his face, and man became a living soul” (Gen. 2: 7). The description of creation shows that man received life from God (cf. Acts 17:25, 28; Col. 1:16, 17). From this fundamental
From the book The Illusion of Immortality by Lamont Corliss From the book The Underworld according to Old Russian ideas author Sokolov 3. IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body, who can kill the soul; but rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ”(Matthew 10:28) One of the tenets of the Orthodox and Catholic teachings does not allow me to fully approach the Orthodox Church. This is the dogma aboutIs immortality real? It’s impossible to get used to death. Man has never come to terms with the inevitability of parting with this land. The problem of immortality has worried humanity throughout its history. The most striking thing about this seemingly incredible idea is that the elixir of youth existed not only in the minds of the ancients.
Is immortality real? Modern scientists are convinced of its reality. Moreover, they claim to be on the cusp of an incredible discovery. Gerontology, dealing with the problems of longevity and old age, has in reserve more than 300 different hypotheses about the mechanisms of human aging, among which the theory of "a thousand hearts" is of particular interest. As scientists suggest, despite the different periods of the earthly existence of every living creature, nature has endowed each of them with the same genes for life expectancy. But why, in this case, is a rat released for 3 years, an elephant at 60? It turned out that the heart of both the rat and the elephant is "calculated" for one billion contractions. But a rat's heart beats at a speed of 600 beats per minute, while an elephant's only 30. The same period released by him is exhausted at completely different speeds. Well, you know, you go quieter. ...
According to the researchers, it will be possible to regulate life expectancy when ways are found to slow down the work of the heart. Corresponding member of the Belorussian Academy of Sciences, head of the laboratory of blood circulation at the Institute of Physiology NI Arinchin developed the theory of "a thousand hearts", according to which human life can be extended up to eight hundred years. We are talking about a kind of peripheral "hearts" that promote blood circulation through the veins. It has also been proven that the helpers of the heart are skeletal muscles, of which there are more than a thousand in the human body. The more trained the muscles of the skeleton, the less load falls on the main "motor" of the body.
Studies have shown that regular muscle training improves the filling of the heart with venous blood and accordingly slows down the number of heart cycles. It is believed that a person involved in physical education saves 20 to 30 days of life annually, since he has more rare heart rate cycles than someone who leads a passive lifestyle. In trained people, all cardiovascular diseases come from premature wear of the heart. Solving the problem of longevity, scientists have proven that the hypothalamus controls the immune system. Old and decrepit mice with peeling hair were transplanted with scanty pieces of the still undeveloped hypothalamus of the embryos. The mice were getting younger literally before our eyes. The ability to reproduce has returned to them. In addition, there was a rejuvenation of the entire immune system, which strongly protects the body from diseases and aging. Some researchers generally believe that humans have two brains. One immobile, brain composed of intertwined neurons and fibers that governs emotional state, thoughts and actions. Another brain is mobile - the immune system monitors the state of organs and tissues. Lymphocytes, performing a single program, spread throughout the body, protect every cell, and control all organs. Many studies confirm the close relationship of these two systems. How can one explain, for example, that people who are cheerful are less ill, keep their youth longer than people who are gloomy and are always dissatisfied with everything?
Scientists from the Central Research Institute of Vaccines and Serum, the Central Research Institute of Medical and Biological Problems of Sports have established that frequent negative emotions lead to the emergence of immunodeficiency in the human body, that is, to the practical disappearance of some classes of antibodies. Comparing the blood of people who are optimistic with the blood of people experiencing emotional distress, researchers at the University of California found that some cells of the immune system are much more active in optimists than in pessimists. This allows us to conclude about the influence of the brain on the motile one. This means that a nervous shock is not only a psychological state, but also a physiological process that entails changes in the body. At the household level, it is available to everyone to manage these processes. A benevolent disposition to a neighbor first of all turns out to be good for ourselves, and vice versa. As for the researchers, they are trying to look at the problem of longevity at a deeper level. In their opinion, the transplanted embryonic brain in the hypothalamus transmits an updated genetic program, which promotes cell renewal in the body. In addition, it has also been revealed that the transplanted nerve tissue helps to remove poisons from the body, rejuvenate neighboring obsolete tissue and accelerate the formation of hormones that cause accelerated growth and restoration of body cells.
The question remains a mystery for gerontologists: why are foreign embryonic cells not rejected? In the brain of a mouse, for example, particles of the brain of a rabbit, a monkey, and sometimes a person take root well and adapt to reproduction.
There is an assumption that this is a consequence of the increased activity of the genes of nerve cells. Since human genes are the most active, they, according to some assumptions, cause "over-optimization" of the functions of the body of animals. Therefore, in order to obtain a similar effect of rejuvenation in humans, it is necessary to find a creature on earth whose embryonic brain genes will cause over-optimization in humans.
The theory of longevity, which is being worked on by the Moscow biologist-chemist N.N. Isaev, is unusual. He is developing an age looping technique. This is what it is. In maple, in order not to allow its leaves to turn yellow, the buds are plucked out every three weeks. Every twenty days the maple was returned in this way to the same mark, and it remained. ... ... evergreen. Similar experiments were performed on animals. According to scientists, in the human body it is also possible to artificially suppress three products discovered by biochemists, which “turn on” the next age phase. For two, inhibitor substances are already known. Scientists have yet to find an overwhelming "brake" for the third product that causes aging and a solution to the problem of human immortality will become a reality. Who does not take your breath away from such conclusions !? But even more amazing is that the restless science does not stop at this. In the near future, scientists hope not only to "loop" the body at a certain age, but also to "travel" by age. However, there are hardly many who wish to return to childhood.
It would seem that longevity and immortality are rather the prerogative of fantasy heroes or fairy-tale characters and, at first glance, are hardly applicable in real human society.
However, scientists say the opposite. The results of research and discoveries in this area indicate that the first immortal people may be born already in this century.
Man is a unique species: he has achieved a lot thanks to his mind, created a complex society and reached great heights in science and technology. However, the personal merits of each individual, his soul and experience are inevitably crossed out by a common ending for all - death.
Aleutian sea bass lives at least twice as long as a person, although there seems to be no particular reason for this.
About 100 years - that's all that is allotted to us, and this is terribly short, if we take into account the short period of our "heyday" of strength and mind. The saddest thing is that, unlike, for example, butterflies, who do not even know that they will live one day, a person realizes the inevitable end and transience of life.
A whole culture has grown up around the topic of death, for example, religions, in which the question of the transience of our life and the importance of saving the soul is a red thread. However, people are increasingly concerned not with her fate, but with the immortality of her mortal body. Is it possible to live forever, or at least much longer?
We are not talking about 10-15 additional years of old age, which promise us a reasonable diet and a healthy lifestyle, but about extending our existence by orders of magnitude and indefinitely. Needless to say, this would radically change the entire structure of our society and would be of great benefit for scientific progress - after all, today a scientist spends half his life only on assimilating the experience of his predecessors.
Until now, the idea of \u200b\u200bimmortality has been the lot of fairy tales and fantasy, but there is every reason to believe that the first immortal people will be born in this century.
Why live forever?
A similar natural mechanism of protection of the species is present even in protozoa: bacteria that multiply by division do not fill the entire space even under ideal conditions, since degeneration occurs, which manifests itself in "defective" offspring that are not capable of normal division.
However, a person is not a bacterium, he has a mind, which makes any biological regulators unnecessary. We have learned to heal injuries, we make food on our own, and we adapt the habitat for ourselves. We do not need a natural mechanism for regulating the population, since in the conditions of a developed civilization an ageless person is able to live as long as he wants.
Thus, the long-awaited moment comes - it is time to "cancel" unjust natural restrictions. Moreover, this is not even a metaphysical question - there are unique organisms, potentially immortal, and not in eternal old age, but in an eternally young state or aging extremely slowly.
Several such examples are known in total. In the first place is the coelenterate hydra, which has unique regenerative abilities and is capable of endlessly renewing its body. Scientists also know the fish Sebastes aleutianus or the Aleutian sea bass, the life expectancy of this fish is so long that a person cannot observe signs of its aging.
Currently, the age of the experimental individual reaches more than 200 years. Longevity records and potential immortality are demonstrated by Pinus longaeva (long-lived pine), which has lived for about 5 thousand years, and the Antarctic sponge Scolymastra joubin, which has lived for about 20 thousand years.
All their lives, these organisms did nothing but consume food and excrete waste. A person could have done much more during this time. Moreover, our life itself is an undeniable value. What can I say - even if not eternal, but long, measured in millennia, existence could open to mankind distant stars, even to which it takes several decades.
What prevents you from living forever?
By and large, the human body is a machine capable of regeneration. Our cells are constantly dying and replaced by new ones, so the body theoretically has an unlimited lifespan. Of course, in case of serious damage to vital organs, for example, brain or lung cells, complete regeneration is impossible, but this problem could be solved by growing new organs, replacing them with artificial analogs or stem cell therapy.
But, unfortunately, the aging process, which leads to death, has other reasons than the banal wear and tear of our living "machine". They are the most important mystery on the path to immortality.
The general signs of aging are well known: the appearance of wrinkles due to the disappearance of subcutaneous fat and loss of skin elasticity, atrophy and degeneration of internal organs, thinning of bones, a decrease in muscle mass, a decrease in the efficiency of the endocrine glands, deterioration of brain function, etc. There is a certain set of factors that trigger the process of dying of the body, blocking this process means gaining immortality.
Who wouldn't want to live forever like Duncan Macleod?
After the discovery of DNA, scientists were filled with optimism: it seemed that it was only necessary to find the gene responsible for turning on the aging mechanism, and then block it and live forever. However, having carefully studied the process leading a person to natural death, the researchers realized that there is most likely no “magic switch”, and immortality is a complex of various factors, and of incredible complexity.
However, there is some good news. First of all, it was possible to discover several pathways of cell signaling and transcription factors, on which the lifespan depends. All of them are natural natural mechanisms that protect the body from adverse conditions. In particular, life expectancy is indirectly influenced by the stress response of genes to lack of nutrition.
During starvation, in the organisms of almost all living things, from yeast to humans, many signals are activated, such as insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), as a result of which the body undergoes global physiological changes in order to protect cells. As a result, cells live longer and aging slows down.
Unfortunately, fasting cannot achieve immortality, but IGF-1 significantly reduces the likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease. In general, a decrease in the amount of IGF-1 increases the risk of death, which indicates the importance of this factor in prolonging life. In some countries, the production of IGF-1 has already begun using a genetically engineered method using recombinant DNA.
Perhaps further work on the insulin-like growth factor will reduce mortality, and this is just one of the many mechanisms of life extension that our body has. Of course, this is not as easy as it seems - you cannot enter IGF-1 or something like that, and expect an increase in the years lived.
There is a complex relationship with other factors, it is enough to note that the production of IGF-1 is associated with the effects of a whole bunch of hormones: growth hormone, thyroid, steroids, glucocorticoids, insulin. There is a long work ahead of folding this mosaic into an integral picture.
How to live forever?
Currently, the epigenetic theory of aging is gaining more and more popularity among scientists, which claims that it is not programmed in the human genome, but occurs due to permanent DNA damage, which ultimately leads to the death of the organism. As you know, chromosomes have terminal sections, telomeres, which prevent connection with other chromosomes or their fragments (connection with other chromosomes causes severe genetic abnormalities).
Telomeres are repeats of short sequences of nucleotides at the ends of chromosomes. The DNA polymerase enzyme is unable to copy DNA completely, therefore, after each division, the telomere in the new cell is shorter than that of the parent cell.
Back in the early 1960s, scientists discovered that human cells can divide a limited number of times: in newborns 80-90 times, and in 70-year-olds - only 20-30. This is called the Hayflick limit, followed by senescence — impaired DNA replication, old age, and cell death.
Thus, with each cell division and copying of its DNA, the telomere is shortened, like a kind of clockwork, measuring out the life of cells and the whole organism as a whole. Telomeres are present in the DNA of all living organisms, and their length is different.
It turns out that almost all cells of the human body have their own "counter", which measures life expectancy. It is in this "almost", perhaps, that lies the key to immortality.
The fact is that nature had to preserve immortality for some cells. In our body, there are two types of cells, sex and stem cells, which contain a special enzyme, telomerase, which lengthens telomeres using a special RNA matrix. In fact, there is a constant "clock shift", due to which stem and germ cells are able to divide endlessly, copying our genetic material for reproduction and performing the function of regeneration.
All other human cells do not produce telomerase and sooner or later die. This discovery was the beginning of a complex and sensational work, which in 1998 ended with a tremendous success: a group of American scientists was able to double the Hayflick limit of ordinary human cells. At the same time, the cells remained healthy and young.
It was very difficult to achieve this: genes for telomerase reverse transcriptase were introduced into normal somatic cells with the help of viral DNA, which made it possible to transfer the abilities of sex and stem cells to ordinary cells, i.e. the ability to lengthen and maintain telomere length. As a result, cells “corrected” by bioengineers continued to live and divide, while ordinary cells aged and died.
Just live forever?
Yes, most likely, this is the cherished key to immortality, but, alas, it is very difficult. The problem is that most cancer cells have a fairly high telomerase activity. In other words, the activation of the telomere elongation mechanism creates immortal cells that can turn into cancer cells. Some scientists even believe that the telomere counter is an evolutionary acquisition designed to protect against cancer.
Most cancer cells are formed from normal, dying cells. Somehow their constant expression of telomerase genes is activated or in another way the shortening of telomeres is blocked, and the cells continue to live and multiply, growing into a tumor.
Because of this side effect, blocking telomeres is considered by many scientists to be a hopeless and dangerous process, especially when it comes to the whole body. Simply put, it is possible to rejuvenate certain cells, for example, of the skin or the retina, but the effect of unblocking telomerase on tissues throughout the body is unpredictable and is likely to cause many tumors and rapid death.
However, last year, scientists from Harvard Medical School gave us hope: for the first time they applied telomerase activation in a complex, not on a set of cells, but on a functioning organism.
First, the researchers turned off telomerase completely in the mice by aging them. The mice aged prematurely: the ability to reproduce disappeared, the weight of the brain decreased, the sense of smell deteriorated, etc. Immediately after that, the researchers began to rejuvenate the animals. For this, telomerase activity in cells was restored to its previous level.
As a result, the telomeres lengthened, and cell division resumed, the "magic" of rejuvenation began: the process of restoration of organ tissues began, the sense of smell returned, neural stem cells in the brain began to divide more intensively, as a result of which it increased by 16%. At the same time, no signs of cancer were found.
The Harvard experiment is not yet a cure for death, but a very promising remedy for rejuvenation. Since scientists do not provoke the production of an abnormal amount of telomerase, but only return its level at the time of youth, it is possible to significantly prolong a person's life with minimal risk of tumors.
Is it real to live forever?
Telomere manipulation is currently the most promising path to immortality. But there are many obstacles here. First of all, cancer problems: even rejuvenation with telomerase encounters an abundance of factors that increase the risk of cancer. Ecology, weakening of the immune system, illness, improper lifestyle - all this creates a chaotic pile of elements, which makes telomerase activation unpredictable. Most likely, those wishing to gain immortality will have to be healthy and carefully monitor the environment.
At first glance, this is difficult, but it is not too high a price. Moreover, science helps us in this: huge funds allocated for the fight against cancer, not least help the development of means of prolonging life. It is possible that the oncological problem of telomerase will not be solved in the near future, but the chances of soon discovering a reliable method of treating cancer is very high.
This month, scientists achieved another major breakthrough on the path to immortality: they were able to completely reverse the aging process of adult stem cells, which renew old and repair damaged tissues. This can help in the treatment of many diseases arising from age-related tissue damage, and in the long term, maintain health and good shape until old age.
Researchers have studied stem cells in young and old people and evaluated changes in various places in the DNA. As a result, it was found that in old stem cells most of the DNA damage is associated with retrotransposons, which were previously considered "junk DNA."
While young stem cells are able to suppress the transcriptional activity of these elements, older stem cells are unable to suppress retrotransposon transcription. Perhaps this is what disrupts the regenerative capacity of stem cells and triggers the process of cellular aging.
By suppressing the work of retrotransposons, scientists were able to reverse the aging process of human stem cells in test tube culture. In addition, it was possible to return them to an earlier stage of development, up to the appearance of proteins that are involved in the self-renewal of undifferentiated embryonic stem cells.
Adult stem cells are multipotent, in other words, they are capable of replacing any number of specific somatic cells in a tissue or organ. Embryonic cells, in turn, can turn into cells of any tissue or organ.
Theoretically, the new technique will allow in the future to launch the process of "absolute" regeneration, when an adult organism with the help of its own stem cells, modified into embryonic ones, will be able to repair any damage and maintain the body in excellent condition for a long time, and maybe forever.
Eternal life: perspectives
Analyzing the results of the work on the "cure for death", we can say with great confidence that we will take the first steps on the path to immortality already in this century. Initially, the process of “undoing” death will be complex and gradual. First, the immune system will be debugged and rejuvenated, which must cope with individual cancer cells and infections. The method is already known: scientists know that the aging of immune cells is controlled by the same telomeres - the shorter they are, the closer the death of the leukocyte.
This year, scientists at University College London discovered a new signaling mechanism in older adults that deactivates white blood cells, even those with long telomeres. Thus, we already know two ways to rejuvenate the immune system. The next step in prolonging life will be the restoration of specific tissues: nervous, cartilaginous, epithelial, etc.
So, step by step, the body will be renewed and the beginning of the second youth, followed by the third, fourth, etc. This will be a victory over old age and a humiliating short life expectancy for a rational being. A person's life path will become several times longer, and health is much stronger.
Sooner or later, a “universal” process will be found that takes into account many factors that influence the aging process. It will be closely related to the physiology of a particular person. Perhaps the "cure for death" will be based on a complex automated complex that constantly regulates the expression of certain genes.
There is nothing fancy about this technique: we have made great strides in automation, and over time, DNA chips and programmable viruses will be able to fine tune our bodies. At this moment, it will be possible to finally put an end to the relationship of a person with death - a person will irrevocably become the master of his fate and will be able to reach truly unprecedented heights.
Mikhail Levkevich
At all times, people were sure that too little earthly life was meted out. This became the reason for an intensive search for methods that would help prolong life or even make a person immortal. Sometimes these methods were terrible and cruel, and it even came to cannibalism and sacrifice ...
There is ample evidence in historical documents that such methods were used quite often. So, in particular, in the ancient Indian epic "Mahabharata" we are talking about the sap of some unknown tree, which could prolong life by 10 thousand years. In the ancient Greek chronicles, it was said about the existence of the tree of life, which returned youth to a person.
Medieval alchemists in their works described studies that were aimed at finding the so-called "philosopher's stone", which was able to turn ordinary metals into real gold, and in addition, healed all diseases and bestowed immortality (it was allegedly used to prepare a golden drink ). In the epics that existed in Russia, one can quite often find the chanting of "living water", which had the ability to raise a person from the dead.
In addition, the legend of the Holy Grail, that is, the Cup, which was carved from a solid emerald and had magical properties, is of great interest. According to one theory, the Grail emitted a magical glow and was able to endow those who defended it with immortality and eternal youth. The very phrase Holy Grail has several interpretations: it is “royal blood” (that is, the blood of Jesus Christ), and “church hymns”, and “a large vessel in which water and wine were mixed”.
Be that as it may, until now, neither the "philosopher's stone", nor the "tree of life", nor the "living water", nor the "Holy Grail" have been found. However, this does not stop enthusiasts, and the search for a miraculous potion that gives immortality continues.
Note that some scientific studies have been quite successful in terms of life extension. So, in particular, the Soviet doctor, Professor Alexander Bogdanov, in 1926, conducted experiments on rejuvenation. He made the assumption that if an elderly person is transfused with the blood of a young person, then youth can return to him. The first test subject was himself, and his first studies were very successful. He transfused himself the blood of a geophysics student. There were 11 quite successful transfusions, but the next one was fatal - the professor died. An autopsy showed that he had more significant kidney damage, liver degeneration and expansion of the heart. Thus, another attempt to regain youth ended in failure.
So does it really follow from this that it is impossible to achieve immortality and eternal life?
The answer to this question is ambiguous, because despite the failure of scientific and medical research, in ordinary life there is completely opposite evidence that eternal life is possible. So, for example, there are places on the planet where people live much longer than in the rest of the world. One of these places is a small settlement in Kabardinobalkaria, which is called Eltyubur. Here, almost through one, the inhabitants have stepped over the centenary. To give birth to a child at the age of 50 is the norm for this area. According to local residents, the reason for their longevity lies in the water from the mountain spring and the air. But scientists are sure that the reason for the longevity of people in this area lies in something completely different - in genetic natural selection based on the principle of longevity. Each generation passed on to the next genes that were responsible for long life. According to other researchers, the reason lies in the mountains that surround the village on all sides. According to this theory, mountains are some kind of pyramids that have the peculiarity of changing the physical properties of objects and substances placed in them, thus contributing to the fact that these objects and substances persist much longer.
But whatever theory turns out to be correct, the very fact of the existence of such places is unique.
In addition to such unique regions, there are also people who have managed to achieve a kind of immortality. One of these people was the head of Buddhists in Russia, Khambo Lama Itigelov, who left the world of his own free will. He took the lotus position and plunged into meditation, and then completely stopped giving any signs of life. His body was buried by students, but after 75 years his grave was opened. It was the will of the deceased. When the experts saw the body, they were simply shocked, because the body looked as if the person had died and was buried just a few days ago. Complete detailed examinations of the body were carried out, which caused even more shock. The body tissues looked as if they belonged to a completely living person, and with the help of special devices it was established that his brain was active. This phenomenon in Buddhism is called "Damat". In such a state, a person can exist for many years, and it can be achieved due to a decrease in body temperature to zero and a slowdown in metabolic processes in the body. So, scientists have proved that a decrease in body temperature by only two degrees leads to a slowdown in metabolic processes by more than two times. In this case, the body's resources will be consumed less, and life expectancy, therefore, will increase.
Currently, modern science is actively researching the possibility of achieving eternal life. Moreover, certain results have already been achieved in this direction. Three areas are recognized as the most promising among these studies: genetics, stem cells and nanotechnology.
In addition, the science of immortality, or immortology (this term was introduced by Igor Vladimirovich Vishev, Doctor of Philosophy) also has some areas under consideration, in particular, lowering body temperature, cryonics (freezing as a way to achieve immortality), transplantology, cloning (or so called the change of the carrier of consciousness).
It is worth noting that in Japan, as one of the main ways to achieve life in spring, it is just a decrease in body temperature. There were experiments on mice, which proved that a decrease in body temperature by just a few degrees ultimately leads to an increase in life by about 15-20 percent. If the body temperature is reduced by one degree, then the life span of a person can be increased by 30-40 years.
In addition, according to the research, scientists have come to the conclusion that stem or pluripotent cells are also one of the means of rejuvenating the human body. The term itself was introduced in 1908 by A. Maksimov, who, after his experiments, came to the conclusion that throughout a person's life, undifferentiated universal cells that are capable of transformation into any tissues and organs remain unchanged in his body. Their formation occurs even at conception, and it is they that provide the basis for the development of the entire human body. Scientists have developed methods for the reproduction of pluripotent cells in a laboratory, and in addition, methods have been studied for growing various tissues and even organs from them.
These cells have the ability to stimulate cellular regeneration and repair virtually all damage in the body. But this does not lead to a complete victory over aging, but can provide only a short-term anti-aging effect. And the whole problem lies in the fact that the main role in the aging process belongs to the changes that occur in the genome of each person.
Also, scientists have found that in every human body there is a so-called biological clock that measures the life time. These clocks are stretches of DNA made up of a repeating sequence of nucleotides that are located at the tops of chromosomes. These areas are called telomeres. Each time a cell divides, they get shorter. When they reach an extremely small size, a mechanism begins to work in the cell, which ultimately leads to apoptosis, that is, programmed death.
Scientists have also found that a special substance is present in the human body that can restore the length of telomeres, but the problem is that this substance is in the cells of the fetus, and such experiments are prohibited almost all over the world. In addition, this enzyme is also found in cancerous tumors in the genitourinary system. Such cells are approved for use in experiments in the United States.
Scientists have established a very interesting fact: in cancer cells there is telomerase, a special enzyme that is responsible for building telomeres. That is why cancer cells have the ability to divide an unlimited number of times due to the constant restoration of telomeres, and at the same time do not succumb to the aging process. If an imitation of telomerase is introduced into a perfectly healthy cell, then this cell will also have all the characteristics listed above, but at the same time, it will turn into a cancerous one.
In addition, Chinese scientists have found that cell aging depends on other factors. So, in particular, they discovered the P 16 gene, which is also responsible for the aging process. It is also able to exert some influence on the growth of telomeres.
Chinese scientists have shown that if you block the development of this gene, then the cells will not age, and the telomeres will not shrink. But at the moment, the problem is that scientists do not yet know how to block genes. It is assumed that such an opportunity will appear with the development of nanotechnology.
It should be noted that nanotechnology is a very promising area of \u200b\u200bscientific research that can provide people with unlimited opportunities. With their help, the creation of nanorobots that would have the same size as biological molecules will become a reality. Scientists suggest that nanorobots, while in the human body, will have the ability to repair cell damage. They will not only stimulate cell regeneration, but also remove so-called toxins, that is, harmful products formed in the process of metabolism, neutralize free radicals that have a detrimental effect on the body, and in addition, block or turn on certain genes. Thus, the human body will improve and eventually gain immortality. However, this is all a matter of the distant future. Currently, there is only one way to preserve the body until science reaches the level to correct the changes in the body that are associated with aging and various diseases. This method is cryonics, that is, freezing to a temperature of -196 degrees (this is the temperature of liquid nitrogen). It is assumed that in this way the body will be protected from decomposition until the moment when science is not perfect.
Thus, we can say that research in the field of achieving immortality is very active, and perhaps, soon scientists will find a way to provide people with eternal life.
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