Science in the anti-aging process

We have commemorated at Vesak the two most significant occurrences in the Buddha’s life and the even more important event for all mankind: that of his realizing the truth of life and why samsaric existences are more unsatisfactory and cause suffering than the positive. As one gets older one realizes this fact. Also that death can come at any moment to a person and is the one certainty in life.

Myths surround the Buddha’s birth, created to show he was more than human, like chanting a verse no sooner he was born. In a Vesak bana, Ven Talalle Chandakitti referring to his supposed walk on lotus soon after being born said that there could not have been lotuses blooming in the Lumbini park. However, the Buddha’s death between two Sal trees at the age of 80, after having suffered a severe stomach ailment as he walked to Kusinara with Ananda Thera, is without any myths.

In the Parinibbana sutta, other suttas and commentaries, the Buddha is shown to be a human being. There is however the narrative that the Buddha told Ven Ananda that he could live much longer if he were asked to, and Ananda did not make the request. Explanation was that his devoted attendant monk was overwhelmed by sorrow seeing the ailing Buddha. This conversation too is probably a myth. One does however consider that death at 80 is a comparatively early death, even in those times since Indian sages were believed to live much past their hundredth year.

And thus the eternal search for prolongation of life, starting from the earliest civilizations. Searches from ancient lands to Europe continued for the elixir of life also known as the elixir of immortality, a potion that grants the taker eternal life or eternal youth and also cures all illnesses. Alchemists in various ages and cultures sought the means of formulating the elixir. In Mesopotamia it is said Gilgamish consumed an elixir in the second millennium BC. Ancient Chinese rulers seeking the fabled potion, ingested minerals like jade. India had its ‘amrita’ in the fourth to third centuries BC. In Europe the philosopher’s stone not only turned base metals to gold but promoted an elixir for eternal life.

Recent Book and Talk

I was very interested in an article by Anne J Manning, Harvard Staff Writer, dated May 14, 2024, in the NYT in which she mentions the newly released book: Why We Die: the new science of aging and the quest for immortality by Nobel Laureate Venki Ramakrishna. She writes more about his talk given as the Harvard Science Book Talk in which Ramakrishna noted the differences in life spans around the world. “Death is certain, so far as we know. But there’s no physical or chemical law that says it must happen at a fixed time, which raises other, more philosophical, issues.”

In 2021, average life expectancy in Sri Lanka was 76.40. It will certainly be higher in countries like Japan, for instance. Anne Manning starts her NYT article by mentioning the Galapagos tortoises can reach age 170 and the Greenland shark holds the world record at over 400 years.

Manning then writes “The ‘why’ behind these enormous swings and the quest to harness longevity for humans, have driven fevered attempts (and billions of dollars in research spending) to slow or stop aging. Ramakrishna’s book is a dispassionate journey through current scientific understanding of aging and death which basically comes down to an accumulation of chemical damage to molecules and cells.” And Ramakrishna has said “The question is whether we can tackle aging processes, while still keeping us who we are as humans. And whether we can do that in a safe and effective way.” And then the big question he rightly asks. Should we pursue it? He likens the research and pursuit of methods to produce longevity to space exploration “which requires huge breakthroughs, which we haven’t made yet.” He says that making real progress in prolonging life is much more probable than say, colonizing Mars.

Research

Many experiments have been carried out with various chemicals etc. The most famous was by Kyoto University scientist and Nobel Laureate Shinya Yamanaka, who showed that “just four transcription factors could revert an adult cell all the way to a pluripotent (capable of giving rise to several different cell types) stem cell, creating what are now known as induced stem cells.”

It seems to be an accepted fact that the world has seen ‘an explosion in aging research’ in recent decades with billions of dollars spent by government agencies and private companies. “The consumer market for products is forecast to hit $ 93 billion by 2027.” False or exaggerated claims by companies promising longer life are currently on the rise, and not FDA approved. These ‘drugs’ appear to be in some demand, Ramakrishna notes.

Which brings to mind the absolute jump in local sales of skin whiteners, never mind the side or after effects. Girls and women, ranging widely in age, buy certain advertised face skin bleachers. Stupidly a girl has to be fair, though the famous singer Indrani, with her sisters, sang in praise of the Kalu Kelle. Also do you remember the calamity caused during a solar eclipse we had in the 1970s when women drank a concoction of vada kaha as advised to become fair in complexion and thus beautiful. Neither of these happened; many had to be hospitalized.

Venki Ramakrishnan

He is a scientist at England’s MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, winning the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for uncovering the structure of the ribosome (cellular machinery making protein). He said he felt qualified to write the book because he has ‘no skin in the game’ of aging research. As a molecular biologist he has studied fundamental processes of how cells make proteins. While researching to write his book, be avoided interviewing scientists engaged in commercial ventures tied to aging. He adds: “The potential for conflicts of interest abound.”

It would be interesting to know what my readers think about this prolonging of the life span through scientific intervention. My personal strong opinion is not to meddle with nature and the natural. Die when you are destined to die!