Humans Could Live to 1,000, Methuselah Foundation Says

So you want to live forever? Or at least, a very long time? Perchance you should become acquainted with the research being conducted and funded by the Methuselah Foundation, which thinks 1,000-year lifespans are a possibility for anyone born after 1945.

And the Foundation isn't looking to just keep you going, getting frailer and more infirm as time goes on. Their mission is to bring about these lifespans as robust, active, and productive people. It looks like they might actually accomplish at least part of this feat, with one process being heavily studied called medical bioremediation for specific type of heart-disease causing cholesterol.

The Methuselah Foundation is not an organization filled with pie-in-the-sky wild-eyed visionaries (although, looking at the group's founder's picture, you do have to wonder). No, the people associated with the Methuselah Foundation are serious, hard core scientists, ranging from cellular and molecular biologists, to mechanical engineers, to medical doctors and researchers. And they all share that common goal - extending our healthy lifespan.

The founder of the Methuselah Foundation is Dr. Aubrey de Grey, who has been both lauded and ridiculed by the scientific community for his "strategies for engineered negligible senescence" (SENS) and attendant theories. Dr. de Grey, like many visionaries, may not (or will he?) live long enough to find out if his seven strategies are actually implementable and effective. But attempts at debunking his theories, most notably with a $20,000 purse attached to it by MIT, have all come up short.

The Methuselah Foundation funds basic scientific bioengineering research, one of the most recently announced funding $300,000 in research at the Arizona State University's Biodesign Institute to look at the medical bioremediation of cholesterol, specifically 7-ketocholesterol.

This particular form of cholesterol has been directly linked to arteriosclerosis and heart disease. The human body lacks the enzymes it takes to break down this form of cholesterol, allowing it to accumulate in the body during a person's lifetime. That significant harm is caused by the accumulation of such biological toxins, and methods to remediate that harm, are one of the core SENS theories and strategies.

The ASU Biodesign Institute's team led by Dr. Bruce Rittman, with the work of PhD candidate John Schloendorn, have found five bacteria that can break down 7-ketocholesterol. With the grant from the Methuselah Foundation, the Rittman team is looking at how to harness that bacterial biomachinery, and turn it into a viable bioremediation therapy.

So, if you want to live a very long, healthy, lifetime, it might pay to pay attention to what comes out of the Methuselah Foundation, and the research they are funding.