Hey everyone Julia here for DNews

In the new movie SELF/LESS, a dying man uses technology to transfer his consciousness to

a younger man's body. But what if we could just stay young forever? Would you want to

live forever? if you could how would you do it?

Some research suggests young blood has rejuvenating properties, which sounds creepy as all get

out. I talked about it in a previous episode. So if you want to learn more about it, you

vampire you, check it out… link in the description

Other research suggests we should tackle the ways our cells divide. As our cells divide

throughout our lifetime, the ends of our DNA start to get shorter and the DNA could fray,

causing age related illnesses like cancer. But we’ve got telomeres, little caps that

are like the tips of your shoe laces. By keeping the caps on our DNA long and healthy, we could

extend our lifespan. Again more on that in a past episode.

But that’s mostly biological. How could technology help us live longer? There are

lots of companies and investors jumping on this bandwagon. Investor Peter Thiel donated

a total of $500,000 towards SENS, or Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence. This

type of research is focused on finding a cure for aging. Maybe the future would be tailored

to us. Just like a made it your way burger at a fast food restaurant, maybe you could

have your medicine made just for you.

At that’s what the world Thiel hopes to see. He invested in other companies, too.

Like Counsyl, where you could start off with a genetic analysis to see if you or your kids

might be at risk for any diseases. If it it turns out you’ve got a rare disease, there

are companies out there that want to hack into your immune system. Immunosoft says they

can program your cells to cure disease. They would take some of your cells, wrap them with

a bit of DNA that would code for a protein that you’re missing, then insert into your

system. Then your own body would start to produce that protein.

Or maybe if nothing’s too wrong with you but want to keep an eye out just in case,

a watch could help you. There’s a lot of wearable tech out there right now to keep

track of things like how far you walk and your heart rate, stuff like that. But imagine

a device that could alert you to a health issue, before it happens. Well that’s on

its way to becoming a reality.

Google is investing in a combination of a smartwatch and nanoparticles. You’d swallow

the nanoparticles in a pill, and because they’re magnetic they’d be able to explore your

body for any diseases. Maybe they’d attach on to a cancer cell or monitor chemicals in

your blood. If anything is out of the ordinary they’d alert you on your watch!

But not surprisingly Google’s not stopping there, In September of 2013, Google announced

Calico, a company that focuses on fighting aging. While nothing major has come from this

company yet, they are partnering up with major Universities like Harvard and UC schools.

Their partnership with UCLA focused on technology that could modulate the body’s stress responses

which is known to trigger inflammation, disease and aging.

But a lot of this technology is still a long way off, so it remains to be seen whether

any of it will become reality. If you want to live long enough to see these advances,

stick to the old school approach. Don't smoke. Get plenty of exercise. Eat right. And if

you’re a budding scientist who wants to come up with your own anti-aging solutions,

maybe go see Self/Less for inspiration. The movie comes out July 10th and stars Ben Kingsley

as a wealthy man, dying from cancer, who undergoes a radical medical procedure that transfers

his consciousness into the body of a healthy young man, played by Ryan Reynolds. Sounds

like an interesting future. If you see it, tell us what you think.

So do you wanna stay young forever?

Let us know in the comments below. Like, subscribe …