Naked Mole Rats and Life Extension
Becky Ripley and Emily Knight examine the naked mole rat, an unusually resilient rodent, which seems to defy the mammalian laws of aging. Should we strive to defy those laws too?
Becky Ripley and Emily Knight examine the naked mole rat, a saber-toothed sausage of a rodent, which seems to defy the mammalian laws of aging. It lives way longer than what is expected of a rodent and is now the focus for much medical research as scientists try to understand more about their aging process in the name of human life extension.
Of course, we all want to age slower and live longer, but does that mean we should continually strive to extend human life expectancy forever and always? Beyond the ethics, there's also some big philosophical questions. How does a longer life span affect our sense of 'self'? And does living longer solve the problem of death?
Featuring Dr Rochelle Buffenstein, Senior Principal Investigator at Calico Life Sciences, and Julian Baggini, philosopher, journalist and author.
Last on
More episodes
Previous
Broadcasts
- Tue 24 Nov 2020 09:3091热爆 Radio 4
- Wed 24 Feb 2021 13:4591热爆 Radio 4
- Thu 5 Sep 2024 21:4591热爆 Radio 4 FM
Podcast
-
Naturebang
Making sense of what it means to be human by looking to the natural world.