Babbage: The scientific quest to conquer ageing

How ageing happens and whether it can be slowed has recently become the subject of intense research and investment. Scientists are exploring differing approaches to reducing age-related deterioration, tech billionaires are experimenting with as-yet-unproven interventions. It is entirely possible that by 2100, people will typically live to be 100, thanks to a better understanding of the process of ageing. But is there a limit to how far human lives can be extended? 

Host: Alok Jha, The Economist’s science and technology editor. Contributors: Geoff Carr, The Economist’s senior editor (science and technology); Bryan Johnson, a tech entrepreneur and self-declared “rejuvenation athlete”; Paul Knoepfler, a professor in longevity at the University of California, Davis; Irina Conboy, a biotechnology professor at the University of California, Berkeley; Mike Conboy, a researcher at the University of California, Berkeley.

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