Fountain of Youth? Telomerase

Myjoyonline.com
Scientists reverse aging in mice, human applications possible

To read news article click "Scientists reverse aging" above. below is a quote from above article.

telomerase which allows the development of a protective cap called a telomere on each of our 23 chromosones. When a cell divides the telomere gets shorter and eventually stops working. This is what causes the outwardly visible signs of aging

. By removing it from the mice you can see why they aged quickly, but what the scientists didn’t expect was that reintroducing it would reverse the process so quickly and effectively.
Mice were chosen for the experiment because they naturally produce telomerase throughout their lives. Humans don’t, and it stops being produced when we reach adulthood with good reason. If it continued to be produced the chance of us getting cancer from continued cell growth goes up considerably, so turning it back on to halt aging is going to be difficult unless strictly controlled. end quote.

So, it might be possible with the use of telomerase to stop or reverse aging in humans. However, how this can be safely done without making us more susceptible to cancer is the real trick.  But, if a way is now found expect life expectancies of some humans to move into the 100s or even 200s or more for those who can afford it and for those who actually want to live that long. Longevity is not something that everyone would actually choose given the opportunity. Watching most or all of one's friends and relatives pass on is not something everyone could psychologically survive as one lives into one's 100s and beyond.

Until whole families and their friends make this choice to live on together I don't think this will be as useful (at least yet) as most people think at present.