Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/1161
19 WWW.HPLusmAGAzINe.COm generations – and you'll start approaching rose's results. But to get the advantages today you'd have to start back before there were cities. That's why smart biology uses "animals" — particularly insects, that don't live long — to squeeze those 10,000 years down to a career- lifetime of about 40 years. (rose is in his 50s.) What do the genetic inventories of these methuselah fl ies show? multiple, overlapping genomic pathways. About 75% of the genes do the same jobs in fl ies as they do in humans. We share these basic operating systems with insects that we parted company from about a billion years ago. (Yes, intelligent design fanatics, you are related to mosquitoes. suck it up. stop bugging me.) Genescient Corporation acquired the use of the methuselah fl ies' genomics and has developed their implications for three years. Knowing that these complex genomic pathways can enhance resistance to the many disorders of aging, their crucial step is to fi nd substances that can enhance the action of those pathways. Designer supplements containing nutrients made using detailed genomic information — a fi eld called nutrigenomics — are about to come to your local supermarket, some of them using obscure traditional medicines. This is the essence of a 21st Century approach to aging. Nothing like it has existed before this year. Noted hard science fi ction author and Genescient (which means 'smart genes') cofounder Gregory Benford argues that there seems no fundamental reason why we can't live to 150 years or even longer ("and you can have sex up to 150 also"… I like that part). After all, nature has done quite well on her own, using pathways humans share and can now understand. The 4,800-year-old bristlecone pine, and koi fi sh over 200 years old, attest to this, not to mention tortoises. Nature took several billion years developing these pathways; Genescient aims to explore them rather like someone playing simearth or spore: by speeding up generational times. The medical technology emerging now acts on these basic pathways to immediately affect all types of organs. Traditionally, medicine focuses on disease by isolating and studying organs, and organizes diseases mostly by spotlighting local disorders. Genomics can focus on entire organisms by looking at the entire picture. You'll know 21st Century medicine has arrived when you see immortality pills featuring mixes of designer supplements. These will regulate your own genes to improve their resistance to the many ways things can go wrong. The plausible outcome of taking these pills will be bodies that don't seem to age as fast and that can maintain vigor long after the childbearing years, when we traditionally begin to show wear and tear. That's what happened with michael rose's methuselah fl ies. The Genescient labs track fl y vigor by their mating frequency — they count how often the fl ies get it on — and the numbers of eggs the females lay. Those horny methuselahs beat out the other fl ies in the mating game. Basically, the more you want and get sex, the longer you will live. Adult Friend Finder and Be Naughty, you are free to quote me on this. After the fi rst wave of designer supplements, we'll see customized nutrigenomic pills. medicine will get tailored to each personal genome. Targeting a person's own suite of complex pathways, smart designer supplements and drugs can propel the repair mechanisms and augmentations that nature provided. This will benefi t everyone, not just the genomically fortunate. The 21st Century has scarcely begun, and already it looks as though many who welcomed it in will see it out. The fi rst person to live to 150 may be reading this right now. Alex Lightman is the author of the fi rst book on 4G wireless, Brave New unwired World (Wiley) and founder of pioneering companies in 3-D and Hollywood websites, wearables, and IPv6. He welcomes friending on Facebook. resOurCes genescient http://www.genescient.com You'll know 21st Century medicine has arrived when you see immortality pills featuring mixes of designer supplements.