We have the opportunity to eliminate aging - Aubrey de Grey

ASTANA. KAZINFORM Aubrey de Grey, British gerontologist, Chief Science Officer and Co-Founder of the SENS Research Foundation, and Editor-in- Chief of "Rejuvenation Research," has arrived in Astana to participate in the Astana Economic Forum: Global Challenges Summit 2018. He gave an exclusive interview to Kazinform International News Agency on the sidelines of the forum. 

For many years you have been dealing with anti-aging issues. You also believe that aging is the major problem of the mankind. What is your belief based on?

I believe that people don't think about aging because they think that they must put it out of their minds. They think that it will never be history, it will always be something we will have. And, therefore, we should not worry about that. But, I have realized, and I am not the only one (some people have realized), that - no, we have the opportunity to eliminate aging, to bring ourselves into a different world, in which we can stay youthful and fully functioning however long we live.

You developed the concept of SENS (strategies for engineered negligible senescence). According to it, therapies improve faster than the damage in the body. Do you think that science should be one step ahead of the disease, the aging of human?

I certainly believe that medicine will be eventually one step ahead. We will be able to repair the damage that the body does to itself more rapidly than the damages occurring, and that is how we will be able to stay young.

Speaking in general, how far has the world medicine advanced in combating human aging? What is the situation in Kazakhstan?

First of all, how far have we gone against aging we are doing really well. There is still a long way to go. But, we have made huge progress in the time that I have been working in this field (about 15 years or so), and I believe that the progress is speeding up. So, we have a very good chance of bringing aging under control quite soon. In Kazakhstan, I believe that there are plenty of opportunities to make a difference. We see much enthusiasm here. And the Nazarbayev University has a lot of initiatives in this area. And I believe there is plenty of contribution Kazakhstan can make.

Can we say that a complete victory over aging, in particular, by means of medicine is possible in the following decades? Will body rejuvenation technologies be available for everybody in the future?

Yes, they will definitely be available to everybody. Because it will pay for itself so quickly. If somebody is fully functioning like a young adult, then they are productive, they generate wealth. So, they will pay for the medicine they need in order to stay like that.

Thank you for the interview!