WHY WE DIE: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality By Venki Ramakrishnan

“What we mean when we say we die is that we stop functioning as a coherent whole. The collection of cells that forms our tissues and organs all communicate with one another to make us the sentient individuals we are. When they no longer work together as a unit, we die.” (p. 12)



Venki Ramakrishnan provides a guided tour through the explosion of anti-aging technology in the past decade and its implications for the future. Ramakrishnan explores the implications of cryopreservation (freezing your body until aging has been solved in the Future), taking metformin (the diabetes drug), getting blood transfusions from younger people, the promise of rapamycin, drinking red wine with resveratrol, and ultraviolet (UV) radiation.



Sadly none of these approaches have panned out so far in slowing the aging process or reversing it. What does work in dealing with aging?



“Exercise and sleep…affect a large number of factors in aging, including our insulin sensitivity, muscle mass, mitochondrial function, blood pressure, stress, and risk of dementia. These remedies currently work better than any anti-aging medicine on the market, cost nothing, and have no side-effects.” (p. 240)



How are you dealing with the aging process? GRADE: A



T ABLE OF CONTENTS:



Introduction



The immortal gene and the disposable body



Live fast and die young



Destroying the master controller



The problem with ends



Resetting the biological clock



Recycling the garbage



Less is more



Lessons from a lowly worm



The stowaway within us



Aches, pains, and vampire blood



Crackpots or prophets?



Should we live forever?