Over the past two centuries, life expectancy in the United States has risen from 39.4 years in 1860 to 78.9 years in 2020. This is largely due to a decrease in infant and child mortality rates, as well as enhanced living standards and fewer wars, according to Statista. These societal advancements are inarguably positive, but even with such a profound increase in life expectancy, we have become hyper-fixated on longevity and youth.

This is certainly not a new phenomenon; for example, Renaissance painters illustrated the divine as youthful. But there has never been such a focus on anti-aging creams, fillers, diets and treatments as there is in the 21st century. Take Kim Kardashian and Bryan Johnson’s “Don’t Die Dinner,” for example, where Bryan discusses how he takes over 100 supplements per day to protect himself from aging.

As technology and medicine advance and new treatments are introduced to the market, something is bound to help us live longer lives. But at what point does fighting our biological clock have detrimental effects?

Follistatin gene therapy is one technique used to promote a longer lifespan, and one used by “longevist” Bryan Johnosn. Follistatin, a protein naturally produced by the body, is injected into stomach fat and inhibits the activity of myostatin, which is a protein that limits muscle development to prevent overgrowth. Minicircle’s follistatin therapy is said to potentially slow the biological clock, increase muscle mass and strength and elongate the ends of chromosomes (called telomeres) to mitigate the risk of cancer, heart disease and neurodegenerative conditions, according to My Nucleus. One 2022 study stated that this therapy increased the lifespan of mice by 32.5%, but its effects on humans have yet to be studied.

This therapy is one example of how our cellular makeup can be augmented to extend our lives. But there are a few issues associated with this movement, should it become a facet of societal practice:

1) Our population is already aging. The number of Americans ages 65 and older is projected to increase 47% by 2050, according to the Population Census Bureau. If people are more incentivized to live longer and have children later, this increase will spike and create an increasingly disproportionate population.

2) Because of the cost associated with these gene-altering practices, a longer life might become an upper-class luxury and increase societal inequality.

3) Medical research could shift from improving current life to prolonging it in an industry where all would pay to look and feel younger.

4) We are fighting nature by altering our biological makeup, which could have unforeseen consequences.

Disregarding all of this, attempting to reverse our bodies’ clocks distracts from living in the now. Assuming that we will have more time doesn’t account for what we could be accomplishing now.

Mortality is, in part, what drives our values and goals. There has already been a shift in the typical child-rearing age of women, in part due to longer lifespans and increased access to more advanced healthcare and in part due to societal advancements in workforce gender roles. But would the ability to control your lifespan result in women pushing motherhood even further down the line?

Changing our lifespan also changes how we view and value time. It’s a common human experience to fear death and reflect on the passage of time and how to live limited years to the fullest, and I wonder how security in having more time, no matter how falsely perceived, would affect how we approach work and our relationships.

Good luck!

Lastly, evolution would be affected if we stopped abiding by it. We have evolved to live longer according to our environment, but when we start modifying our bodies to overcome our environment artificially, will it halt completely?

Though technology is certainly not advanced enough to guarantee a longer life if you want one and does not account for accidents or disease, the growing interest in this type of longevity therapy is sure to yield interesting and unforeseen results as research increases in this field.

Most everyone wants to live a long and fulfilled life, but how far will we go to attain it, and what is the price of finding a medical shortcut?