Researchers push the limits of human longevity. Thanks to genetics and technology, a life of several centuries is no longer pure science fiction. But between promising advances and terrifying implications, this perspective raises serious questions.
Scientific experiments that open the way to extreme longevity
While Dracula Return to the big screen in a signed version Luc Bessonthe question of human longevity reappears forcefully. And for good reason: experiences carried out in California suggest that we could Live up to 500 years.
Au Buck Institute for Research on Agingresearchers have managed to multiply by Five life expectancy from worms. They modified some Genetic paths Linked to insulin and enzyme mTOR. These mechanisms control cell growth and survival.
Theoretically, applied to humans, these adjustments would allow to exceed 100 years … or even Cross the five centuries mark.
In parallel, some millionaires already begin their transition transhumanist. They bet on food supplements, implants and strict diets. These initiatives, supported by progress in genomics, nanotechnologies or even therapeutic cloning, repel the limits of aging every day.
Could the human brain take five centuries of memories?
But living a long time is one thing. Remember everything is another. The brain, this fascinating machineis it capable of managing a memory of five centuries long? The answer may well be yes.
According to the professor Paul Reberexpert in psychology at Northwestern university, the human brain can contain 2.5 data petacts.
This represents the equivalent of 5,000 state -of -the -art iPhone. In other words, our skull could Store millions of hours of memories.
However, you have to qualify. If our brain has this theoretical capacity, it does not record everything. Next to 40 % of the information is forgotten within 20 minutes. And 77 % disappear After six days. That said, the emotional memorieslike those linked to loved ones, often remain engraved for a very long time.
Behind the dream of immortality, very real existential anxiety
Even if science approaches immortality, should we really want to live forever? Fiction, like the series Black Mirror I’m Fllm Fountain of Youthoften presents this ambition as a curse.
Because living centuries also means see others disappearrelive dramas, and perhaps lose the meaning of your own humanity.
Dracula’s return to the cinema reminds us that immortality fascinates as much as it scares. And if it is a teaching to remember from this fascination, it is that The beauty of life also lies in its finitude. Perhaps what makes us human is not our lifespan … but our ability to fill it with meaning.
