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Shift Your Mindset is a monthly series from CNNs Mindfulness, But Better team. We talk to experts about how to do things differently to live a better life.

Since time immemorial, humans have done their darnedest to try and cheat death. Today, as revolutionary advancements transform the stuff of science fiction into everyday reality, are we closer to extending our lifespan or even perhaps immortality?

If so, do we really want eternal life? In his new book, Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality, Nobel Prize-winning molecular biologist Venki Ramakrishnan sifts through past and cutting-edge research to uncover the aspirational theories and practical limitations of longevity. Along the way, he raises critical questions about the societal, political and ethical costs of attempts to live forever.

Already, humans live twice as long as we did 150 years ago due to increased knowledge about diseases and their spread. Does that suggest interventions to triple or quadruple our lifespan lie just around the corner? Ramakrishnan shares his perspectives on the realities of aging, death and immortality.

This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

CNN: What is aging? How does it lead to death?

Venki Ramakrishnan: Aging is an accumulation of chemical damage to the molecules inside our cells, which damages the cells themselves, and therefore the tissue, and then eventually us as an organism. Surprisingly, we start aging when were in the womb, although at that point, were growing faster than were accumulating damage. Aging happens throughout our lives, right from the very beginning.

The body has evolved lots of mechanisms to correct age-related damage to our DNA and to any poor-quality proteins we produce. Without ways to correct these sorts of problems, we would never live as long as we do. Still, over time, damage begins to outpace our ability to repair.

Think of the body as like a city containing lots of systems that must work together. Once an organ system critical to our survival fails, we die. For example, if our muscles become so frail that our heart stops beating, it cant pump the blood containing the oxygen and nutrients our organs need and we die. When we say someone dies, we mean the death of them as an individual. In fact, when we die, most of ourselves, such as our organs, are alive. This is why the organs of accident victims can be donated to transplant recipients.

CNN: Does human lifespan have a fixed limit?

Ramakrishnan: The lifespans of all organisms range from a few hours or days for insects to hundreds of years for certain whales, sharks and giant tortoises. A layperson might assume that all life forms are preset to die once theyve reached a certain age. But biologists dont believe that aging and death are programmed in the sense that a fertilized egg is programmed to develop into a human being.

Instead, evolution has optimized a lifespan equation of resource allocation thats optimized for every species. Larger animals tend to live longer. If youre a small animal and therefore more likely to get eaten by a predator, starve or die in a flood it makes no sense for evolution to waste resources repairing the damage necessary to keep you alive longer. Instead, evolution selects for growing fast and maturing quickly so you can reproduce and pass along your genes.

If youre a larger animal, staying alive longer will grant you a better chance of finding a mate with whom you can have more offspring over your longer lifetime. Lifespan is all about evolution maximizing the chances of your passing along your genes. In humans, this finely tuned resource balance grants us a maximum lifespan of about 120 years. But that doesnt mean we cant alter biology and intervene in these processes of aging, and maybe extend our lives. Like many aging scientists, I believe that its possible. I dont, however, share their optimism for how feasible such interventions would be.

CNN: Who has lived the longest so far?

Ramakrishnan: The oldest person for whom we have reliable records was a French woman named Jeanne Calment, who died in 1997 at age 122. She smoked for all but the last five years of her life and ate more than two pounds of chocolate every week. But I wouldnt recommend those particular strategies for longevity, except for the chocolate perhaps.

CNN: Can the aging clock ever run backward?

Ramakrishnan: The aging clock does run backward, every generation. Although a child is born from the cells of adult parents, the child still starts at age zero. A child born to a woman whos 40 years old is not 20 years older than a child born to a 20-year-old; theyre both starting at zero. So, at some level, the aging clock can reverse.

Theres also cloning. While Dolly, perhaps the most famous cloned sheep, was sickly and died at about half the normal age, other cloned sheep have gone on to live normal lives. This has convinced some that resetting the aging clock must be possible on a wider scale. While tricking adult cells into becoming embryonic and beginning to grow again has been successful, practical difficulties make cloning very inefficient. Many cells have accumulated too much damage to take, which necessitates an enormous number of experiments to grow a single animal.

Experiments in mice, meanwhile, have used cellular reprogramming so that cells can revert developmentally, partway, to have the capacity to regenerate tissue. By converting cells to a slightly earlier state, scientists have produced mice with better blood markers and improved fur, skin and muscle tone. Despite all the research in this area, Im not sure how easy its going to be to translate into something useful for humans.

CNN: Your father just turned 98. What bearing will his good health and independence likely have on your own life? How much of aging and longevity are influenced by genetics?

Ramakrishnan: There is a correlation between the ages of parents and their children, but its not perfect. A study of 2,700 Danish twins showed that heritability how much of our longevity is due to our genes only accounted for about 25% of lifespan. Still, researchers have found that mutation in just a single gene can double the lifespan of a certain type of worm. Clearly theres a genetic component, but the effects and implications are complex.

CNN: What does cancer science reveal about anti-aging research?

Ramakrishnan: The relationship between cancer and aging is complicated. The same genes can have different effects over time, helping us grow when were young but increasing risk of dementia and cancer when were older. Our risk of cancer increases with age because we accumulate defects in our DNA and genome, which sometimes cause gene malfunctions that lead to cancer. But many of our cellular repair systems that seem to be designed to avoid cancer early in life also cause aging later.

For example, cells can sense breaks in our DNA that might allow chromosomes to join in an abnormal way, which could lead to cancer. To prevent that joining, a cell will either kill itself or enter a state called senescence, where it can no longer divide. From the perspective of an organism like us, which has trillions of cells, this makes sense. Even if millions of cells are destroyed this way, these actions protect the whole organism. But the buildup of senescent cells is one of the ways we age.

CNN: Has your research on why we die influenced how you live your life?

Ramakrishnan: Its interesting that all the evidence-based recommendations for what can help us live a long, healthy life reflect the common-sense advice thats been passed on through the ages. We got it from our grandmothers: Dont be gluttonous. Get exercise. Avoid stress, which creates hormonal effects that change our metabolism and can accelerate aging. Get enough sleep.

Aging research is helping us understand the deep biological implications of this advice. Eating a variety of healthy foods in moderation can prevent the health risks of obesity. Exercise helps us regenerate new mitochondria the powerhouses of our cells that provide energy. Sleeping allows our bodies to do molecular-level repair. Learning the biology behind this age-old, rock-solid advice can encourage us to take other actions that will help promote a long and healthy life.

Personally, I often say Im way past my expiration date, but as a human being, I still feel like Im alive and have things to contribute.

CNN: What are the societal costs of the quest to cheat aging and death, particularly inequities?

Ramakrishnan: Already the top 10% of income earners in both the US and the UK live more than a decade longer than the bottom 10%. If you look at health span the number of years of healthy life that disparity is even greater. Poorer people are living shorter, less healthy lives.

Many very rich people are pouring huge amounts of money into research, hoping to develop sophisticated technologies to prevent aging. If these efforts succeed, the very rich will benefit initially, followed by people with very good insurance, and so on. Rich countries will likely have access before poorer countries. So, both within countries and globally, such advancements have the potential to increase inequalities.

CNN: Has exploring this topic changed your thoughts and feelings about aging and dying?

Ramakrishnan: Most of us dont want to get old or leave this life. We dont want to go while the partys still going on. But even as cells in our body are made and die all the time, we continue to exist. Similarly, life on Earth will go on as individuals come and go. At some level, we have to accept thats just part of the scheme of things.

I think this quest for immortality is a mirage. One hundred and fifty years ago, you could expect to live until about 40. Today, life expectancy is about 80, which, as author Steven Johnson has said, is almost like adding a whole extra life. But were still obsessed about dying. I think if we lived to be 150, wed be fretting about why were not living to 200 or 300. Its never-ending.

Jessica DuLong is a Brooklyn, New York-based journalist, book collaborator, writing coach and the author of Saved at the Seawall: Stories From the September 11 Boat Lift and My River Chronicles: Rediscovering the Work That Built America.

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Why do we die? The latest on aging and immortality from a Nobel Prize-winning scientist - Yahoo Singapore News

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In a revolutionary leap towards achieving human immortality, a team of visionary Chinese scientists has announced a groundbreaking discovery that could potentially reverse the ageing process and shield individuals from debilitating illnesses.

The breakthrough anti-ageing therapy, based on harnessing the power of hydrogen atoms, has sparked hope for a future where the concept of Benjamin Button's reverse aging might become a reality.

This monumental revelation comes as researchers claim to have unlocked the long-pursued "holy grail" of anti-ageing, as detailed in a recent journal article published in Nature Communications.

According to the scientists, the key lies in the therapeutic properties of hydrogen atoms, long believed to possess the ability to combat the inevitable march of time.

The team's method revolves around the strategic use of hydrogen atoms to effectively reverse and slow down the ageing process, offering a potential shield against notorious conditions like Alzheimer's. Extensive tests have underscored the anti-inflammatory attributes of hydrogen, solidifying its role in the pursuit of everlasting youth.

The breakthrough hinges on the safe and efficient delivery of a high concentration of hydrogen molecules over an extended period. In a stroke of scientific ingenuity, the researchers devised a scaffold implant utilizing cutting-edge nanotechnology.

This implant, a marvel in itself, boasts a staggering 40,000 times more efficacy than previous techniques, ensuring the direct and potent delivery of hydrogen molecules to humans.

Excerpt from:

Breakthrough in anti-ageing as Chinese scientists unveil shocking discovery - SAMAA

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At the end of the day, a lot of the AI enthusiasm among the technological “futurists” like Ray Kurzweil is based on certain assumptions of what a human being fundamentally is. Casey Luskin reported on Kurzweil’s lecture at the recent COSM 2023 conference, noting how he is convinced that AI is humanity’s destiny, and will serve as our functional “God figure,” all-knowing, self-determining, sentient.

Kurzweil sees the human person in purely scientific terms: if we can achieve a certain level of technological advancement, we will transcend our limits and take the next step of human evolution. Technology will be our religion, the means to our immortality.

Jacques Maritain, a French philosopher, shared helpful thoughts about the human person in his essay on education titled “The Aims of Education.” Maritain acknowledges two different ways of seeing people: the scientific or philosophical-religious. He writes,

The purely scientific idea of man tends only to link together measurable and observable data taken as such, and is determined from the very start not to consider anything like being or essence, not to answer any question like: Is there a soul or isn’t there? Does the spirit exist or only matter? Is there freedom or determinism? Purpose or chance? Value or simple fact? For such questions are out of the realm of science. The purely scientific idea of man is, and must be, a phenomenalized idea without reference to ultimate reality.

You probably have seen those “trust the science” billboards and yard signs. What the architects of such vague signage seem to have neglected is that the catchy phrase itself is a value statement, not a scientific one. Confusing science with a philosophyof science is an easy swamp to get mired in, but our country is currently rife with the consequences. Trusting the science often meant, particularly during COVID-19, going along with the current groupthink heralded by technocratic idealogues. Much of the consensus was later subverted by new information.

But that’s sort of a rabbit hole. The real issue here is seeing human beings as purely material beings, devoid of soul, spirit, or intrinsic dignity and meaning. Material creatures need material solutions.

But suppose we are immaterial andmaterial at the same time? Suppose we are soulsand not just meat machines? Maritain goes on to illustrate an alternative concept of the human person that allows for such categories. He writes,

Man is a person, who holds himself in hand by his intelligence and his will. He does not merely exist as a physical being. There is in him a richer and nobler existence; he has spiritual superexistence through knowledge and love. He is thus, in some way, a whole, not merely a part; he is a unvierse unto himself, a microcosm in which the great universe in its entirety can be encompassed through knowledge. And through love he can give himself freely to beings who are to him, as it were, other selves; and for this relationship no equivalent can be found in the physical world.

It’s a beautiful, deep picture of what it means to be a person, and indicates a mystery that we can’t ever fully “compute.” We’ve spoken much here at Mind Mattersabout how we bear certain characteristics that computers will never be able to bear. Creativity, sentience, and love are some of them, to name a few. But even more fundamentally, computers aren’t persons. They aren’t souls. And if you believe that we’re more than just computational brains on meatsticks, we’ll never be replaced by AI.

Excerpt from:

Jacques Maritain on the Human Person - Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence

10th November 2023

Adult Runner-Up

The Journey by Mike Nicholls

Sorry to inform you, stage 3B is what you have Lymph node melanoma, was not on my satnav Those days of immortality, a relic of the past Replaced by life expectancy, how many years forecast? The journey just beginning Panic permeating Mood swings oscillating Post op excruciating Lightness follows darkness, medicine on my side Immuno long word therapy, my defences amplified GHA oncology, firmly in the chair Bloods and drips and test results, a body in repair The journey aggravating Brain ache escalating No longer disbelieving Day to day upheaving Christmas comes and Christmas goes, normality quite close Not long ago so healthy, now a juxtapose The zeal for geniality, banishes the fear Belief in perpetuity, a resolution of new year The journey undulating Undiscriminating Belief reverberating Anxiety abating Katrina, Jess and Jason, supporting Dr B Grateful to professionals, and my family Now the treatments over, its fingers crossed and prayers Postponement of that trek, up eternal stairs Panic obviating Reinvigorating News once devastating Hope now radiating the journey.

Judge Charlie Durantes Comments:

Mike Nicholls with The JourneyWe have all encountered cancer either in ourselves or in our loved ones. In the 21st century, almost 50% of the population will either battle through this most devastating of illnesses, or succumb to it after a long, agonising struggle. Mikes poem reflects the harrowing experience of a patient who has faced the reality of a cancer diagnosis and is now enjoying some kind of reprieve.

3B is already an advanced state cancer and stage 4 could spell ultimate dissolution. The speaker is understandably non-plussed by the revelation: panic sets in, moods are uncontrollable, convalescing from the operation agony, then the long, excruciating journey into adjuvant chemotherapy or radiotherapy with their distressing side-effects.

Mike then rightly celebrates the friendly, professional help and support of the chemotherapy team (Ive met them all and can vouch for Mikes admiration). Then there is a glimmer of hope when the treatment seems to be working. The poem, which is so personal and intimate in its details, is testimony of Mikes resilience and his lust for life.

Formally, the poem is expertly structured with alternating stanzas of long and short lines. The short-lined stanzas, with their plethora of present participles, catalogue the patients daily struggle with pain, depression and fear. We can only wish Mike the very best in his journey to a permanent recovery. A very poignant, brave poem. (I am assuming the persona and the poet are one and the same person)

Adult Highly Commended

"My mother's hands by Gabriel Moreno

My mother's hands are now my hands.

In my skin I see the geography of her skin.

I remember, as a child, gaping

into the furrows of her hands,

wondering what journeys, what nights inscribed texture in her human wings.

Back then I fretted for my mother's hands.

I cursed the clothes that irked her hands

as she bashed the dirt of our days

against the sides of the stone basin.

If only it all stopped, I thought,

this endless cycle of dirty shirts

and stained kitchen cloths.

But my mother's hands are now my hands.

I marvel at the crevices and the holes.

Now I know no amount of leisure

can keep our hands from returning

to the rugged leather of the earth.

I remember the soft touch of her fingers

on my hair as she lay me down to sleep.

My mother's hands are now my hands.

Judge Charlie Durantes Comments:

Gabriel Moreno with My mothers hands. Gabriels poem is a loving testimony to the way we inherit some physical characteristics from our parents. Our bodies reflect the physical nature of our progenitors, so that we carry not only their genes, which are, after all, invisible, but also the colour of hair, eyes, shape of our mouth. Hands are specifically human; they not only shape the universe we inhabit, but create beauty, and convey our love and desire when we fondle and caress another human being.

The speaker here endeavours to interpret the deep message he finds inscribed in his beloved mothers hands. Before the invention of washing machines, female hands bore the unmistakable signs of the daily washing of clothes, shirts and sheets. Hands were chafed, deformed and raw. The son now curses the fact his mother had to endure this daily torture.

He has inherited her hands and even though they dont have to wash clothes, they yearn for the close physical contact he enjoyed as a child. She ruffled his hair, and his hands now feel the rugged leather of the earth.

We are often surprised at how often we repeat in our bodies the physical presence of our parents, and this becomes more uncanny as we get older. Gabriels poem is sincere, moving and unpretentious!

Adult Highly Commended

The Octopus by James McNally

She knows its time. He knows it too.

If he has any sense, hell leave.

She doesnt mind. Shed eat him alive

but not because of malice. No,

because thats what love is. Unconditional love.

A love that was once his is now hers

and is no longer his. Wisdom retreats

while she falls to the bottom of the ocean.

Above her head she strings a clutch of eggs

that almost look like offerings

like grapes, or passements around a bed,

crocheted comforters, plaited braids

they might be many things. If youd ask,

shed say, they are my chandelier,

an honest smile gracing a mouth

that has forgotten hunger.

Day by day they hatch and leave her;

gram by gram, the heart grows lighter.

Air rushing into an empty nest,

she swells like an upturned sail

and drifts towards the sun.

Specks of gold on the blue pass by

with their regards. She too regards them,

but memory paints grey on grey.

They forgive her. Why wouldnt they?

All that time waiting for one moment

only for it to go unrecognised, unspoken.

It happens to us all. Words are loaned

but love cannot be reimbursed

this much is understood, even

while her mundane garments wash ashore

to be picked apart by scavengers.

Judge Charlie Durantes Comments:

James McNally with The Octopus. If you have any romantic notions about love and sex, a quick look at the mating habits of the octopus will quickly dispel them. James has thought hard and long about the way octopuses mate and procreate. The startling message of this ingenious poem is how James has managed to describe what is in essence a form of murder and cannibalism so delicately and sensitively. The beautiful vocabulary, passements around a bed, plaited braids and an honest smile gracing the mouth endows the macabre ritual with dignity and a sense of purpose.

The young become specks of gold, and the dying mother octopus, her task completed, swells like an upturned sail. Her once magnificent body is now mere mundane garments, food for hungry scavengers.

The semelparous octopus seems to exist only to ensure the continuity of the cephalopod race. Tentacles, hood, large gloopy eyes, become senescent once mating and birth have taken place. James has written an absorbing poem, and the readers of his poem may need to brush up on their octopus lore!

Read more:

Poetry Competition adult runner up and highly commended - Gibraltar Chronicle

Highlights

The Hunter x Hunter Dark Continent is inhabited by extremely dangerous creatures, the likes of which have only been teased in the story thus far. Nonetheless, it is also rumored to hold treasures of immeasurable value so in the distant past, humanity attempted to send multiple expeditions to achieve these riches. Of these many, only five had survivors, and all brought back threats capable of leading humanity to extinction.

Due to the dangerous nature of these five threats, it was decided that setting foot on these lands would only lead to great disasters. The V5 signed the Treaty of Non-Aggression and all expeditions to the continent were officially banned for the 200 years that followed. That said, human curiosity and greed often prevailed, and 149 illicit expedition attempts were made. With a survival rate of 0.04%, few people have lived to tell the tales of these lands and very little information is available in the Known World.

RELATED: Hunter x Hunter: Overpowered Nen Abilities In The Series, Ranked By Power

The Five Threats that exist in the Dark Continent are proof that this place is too wild and dangerous for even the strongest people in the Hunter x Hunter world. Not much is known about these threats as they receive no more than an offhanded mention, but what little is known is enough to classify them as far more dangerous than even the chimera ants. The threats that fans have seen are in a classified laboratory, and they are believed to have been inflicted upon humanity as penance for having attempted to enter these lands.

The first of the five threats of the Hunter x Hunter world is known as Pap, a dark and fearsome entity dubbed the "Human-Keeping Beast". Renowned for its unnerving habit of preying on humans and keeping them as pets, this enigmatic creature inhabits a secluded mountain range located on the Dark Continent. Despite its remote dwelling, the terror of Pap does not remain confined to these boundaries, and evidence of its activities has surfaced in the known world, with victims having been found far from its natural lair.

The Hunter x Hunter world knows Brion as The Botanical Weapon, the threat that was brought back from the second successful dark continent expedition. Though it is one of the threats fans know least about, its appearance has been revealed to be an ominous-looking human body with an enormous sphere where the head should be. Alongside Zobae, it is considered one of the weaker threats in the Dark Continent, but nonetheless, only two individuals survived the expedition which met its fate at its hands.

The second biohazardous Dark Continent threat is Zobae, known as the immortality illness. It is a disease that kills almost everyone who contracts it and of those who encountered it, only one survived. This survivor has now turned immortal and entirely self-sustaining, but this immortality likely came at the expense of his mind; he is quarantined in a lab with no remaining sense of self and no cure available, condemned to an eternal hell.

Hellbell and Ai are two of the most dangerous of the five threats from the dark continent. Though little is known about Ai in particular, both creatures seem to be intrinsically tied to the dark side of human nature, and both seem to be able to manipulate human behavior. Hellbell presents as a two-tailed snake capable of infecting its prey with murderous intent, though whether it is a single being or a species is yet uncertain. It is extremely ferocious and of those who encountered it, only 1% has survived.

Even less has been revealed of Ai, a gaseous life-form with limb like appendages known as the codependency of desire, though a popular theory identifies Nanika as a possible exemplary of this species. It is in fact confirmed that Nanika came from the Dark Continent and due to the similarity in the crushed form of their victims and the codependent nature of her relationship with Alluka, this is likely true.

Not much is known on the five threats, but what has been revealed is more than sufficient to demonstrate the unimaginable level of danger in the Dark Continent. Though Togashi has hinted at working on new chapters, there is still no release date, and the Hunter x Hunter community can only hope that the mysteries of this world will one day be resolved.

Hunter x Hunter is available to stream on Prime Video.

MORE: Hunter x Hunter: The Nen Power System Part I - The Four Major Principles

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Hunter x Hunter: The Five Threats, Explained - GameRant