This is Tom here, writing from San Francisco on a beautiful spring evening. The sun is setting behind the Golden Gate Bridge, and I'm writing about aging.
I'm 54 years old. I'm in good health, although I have two chronic conditions (high cholesterol and hypo-thyroidism) that are being successfully controlled through medication. And I feel good. But I don't know what the future holds for me. That's because the future is changing.
There are only 1,083 patents on file with the word 'gerontology' in their title, abstract or text in the scientific database Scirus. Half of them have been filed in the past 5 years. Similarly, there are 11,861 patents with the phrase 'human longevity' in the title, abstract or text. More than half were filed in the past five years.
In thirty years I will be the same age as Ted, my writing partner, is today. He happens to be my father. I think there's actually a chance that both of us will be around to see the day. This blog will be about how to get there--but also why.
Science and technology will provide a lot of the how. But this new society that's being created around us, with the atomisation of the nuclear family, increased mobility looser ties between people, make the why ever-more challenging. And if we don't solve the 'why' part, the how is just mechanics.
The technologies that we know will impact on aging include biochemistry and genetics, nanotechnology and robotics. There are other technologies that will play a part. But the why--that won't be found on the shelf of a store any time soon.
So I get the easy part--I'll be writing about how aging will change. As usual, my dad gets the harder part.
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