Researchers Think They May Be Able to Reverse Aging in Adult Stem Cells

Mankind has always wanted to live forever. Every culture throughout history has searched for the secret of longevity. At first, the only way to do this was to create an afterlife myth. The ancient Egyptians believed that by mummifying the bodies of the dead, they could gain access to the afterlife.

Japanese monks took it a step further. Some of them believed that they could mummify themselves while they were still alive. They became severely dehydrated, their skin took on the consistency of leather. They also took arsenic and pine oil to preserve their bodies. Most of them didn't make it., but a few thousand years later, their corpses look pretty good.

The ancient druids thought that you had a soul that could occupy many different bodies and allow you to live for centuries before going to the Otherworld. Re-incarnation is practically the same thing. You re-incarnate until you get it right and become enlightened. Many cultures thought that after you died, you went to live with your ancestors. They still do.

Ancient alchemists are best known for wanting to turn lead into gold, but their other main goal was to develop an elixir of life. Sometimes they poisoned their patients instead. Chin, the first emperor of China, was one such victim. In his quest for eternal life, he sent himself to an early grave.

But now, for the first time in human history, it may actually be possible for folks in the future to live forever, or at least a lot longer than they live now. And the answer may just be from stem cells. According to Medical News Today:

"Stem cells are a class of undifferentiated cells that are able to differentiate into specialized cell types."

Scientists have discovered that they can reverse the aging process in adult stem cells. By reversing the aging process in these cells, all kinds of tissue damage can be reversed. Diabetics can grow a new pancreas. Someone with spinal cord damage could grow new spine cells. And eventually, we might become like super lizards who have lost their tails, as body parts wear out, we simply regrow new ones.

In reality, we have several different bodies throughout our lifetime. As old cells die, the body generates adult stem cells to replace them. The problem comes when we age enough, the stem cells themselves become damaged and lose the ability to reproduce.

Most disease processes come from cell damage in one way or another. If we could keep regenerating the body's cells as they are damaged, then there is no reason, barring accidents, that we couldn't live forever, or very close to it. But unfortunately, this probably won't be seen in our lifetime.

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/234946.php