No Way Out: What If Longevity Science Is Pointless?

There’s every chance that our bodies are on a set clock.

Back in 2004, I tried interviewing Dr. Roy Walford, a pathology professor at the UCLA School of Medicine, for a magazine article I was writing about human longevity. Walford believed that a calorie-restricted diet would allow him to live much longer, despite the Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS) affecting his body. He agreed to a chat, provided we did it by email.

Before I could circle back to ask him my questions, though, he was dead.

I think about Walford every time I read another article about a promising avenue of longevity research. Fifteen years ago, the other researchers I interviewed all thought that we were at a turning point when it came to extending the human lifespan. However, the same rules still apply today: You can eat right and exercise, hoping to make it to your 100th birthday party, and still drop dead from a myriad of causes.

Over the past few years, the idea of transfusing older folks with “young blood” in order to reverse aging transfixed many in the longevity-focused community. Venture capitalist Peter Thiel was supposedly interested in it; HBO’s Silicon Valley, which parodies many of the tech world’s trends du jour, integrated it into the plot; and a firm called Ambrosia…