Do you believe that it will reach a time when death will no longer exist in sapiens' rites of passage? Try to fantasize a world where death isn’t a worry. People living their lives without worrying about the future. Does it seem boring or fun? If it is boring, are you trying to say that being mortal makes life more fun? If it is fun, does that mean that our drive and willpower will decrease? Because, people work tirelessly knowing that they have limited time on this planet.
Immortality means, Albert Einstein would still be living with us. With his creativity plus technology advancement that the world have seen since then. Don’t you miss him? Maybe with his help we could have been in the process of conquering the universe and space just like we have did to the world.
You may think that I'm talking about millions of years to come, but these things are in the medium future, maybe towards the end of this century or in the middle of next century. It won't be a surprise to see an immortal man.
After conquering the world, death is the last man standing in our way, and science is proving she is the real beast of all.
If you don’t believe that Science is the bus taking us to eternal life, well, it’s better you reconsider your thoughts. By the end of this article, I assure you a different stand. If you believe science is the bus taking us to eternal life, don’t be too hopeful. Despite your stand, I’m going to discuss some of the stations this bus passes as it ferries sapiens to eternal life.
7: Surgery
Surgery or operations is a medical advancement that has always tried to lengthen sapiens' life. Removing that dying tissue or organ from affecting other healthy body parts or repairing that sick tissue or organ is all it entails.
As history could date, surgery dates back to ancient Egypt where evidence of trepanation, (an ancient form of surgery that involved drilling a hole in the skull to cure some infections), were found. Another form of surgery that existed in the ancient world was bloodletting. The writings of Greek philosopher Hippocrates also proves that surgery was practiced in ancient Greece as he says,“General physicians must never practice surgery, surgery should be conducted by specialists."
Ambroise Paré, a french military surgeon also excelled in this field as he was cauterizing gunshot wounds using boiling oil. John Hunter later enlightened this field when repaired damaged Achilles tendons.
However much, these people laid a perfect foundation for the modern day surgery, it is hard to believe they carried out these operations without anesthesia or any drug to control hemorrhage. This clearly shows the pain that their patients had to endure, and it’s very clear that many died in this process!!
As the world becomes more advanced, American surgeon Crawford Long came up with the first form of anesthesia; Ether, before another Scottish surgeon, James Young introduced Chloroform. Invention of anesthesia made the surgical process endurable and at this moment, sapiens made their first step to immortality. It became more advanced when the German physicist, Wilhelm Röntgen introduced the application of X-rays in surgery.
Use of X-rays machines and other forms of scans that exist today has enabled surgeons to picture the visceral body parts before launching an operation, and this has reduced the risk that may occur in the process.
Remember Ben Carson leading a team of surgeons in separating the conjoined twins, performing the first successful neurosurgical procedure on a foetus inside a womb. Removing the entire right side of 12-year old Jessie’s Brain. It is very clear that without surgery, these individuals could have not lived.
Examining other complex surgeries that have been performed, we come to agree that Surgery was the first station on our way to immortality, and it has greatly helped to reduce mortality rate and lengthen the lives of sapiens on this planet.
6: Organ Transplant
Telling someone in the 11th Century that you can take a heart valve of a pig and implant it on a man could have earned you an award in lunacy. Telling another one that you can Transplant a heart from one human being to another was enough to announce your death. In simple terms, these things seemed impossible.
Organ transplants gained its wings in the 1950s when Dr Christian Bernard performed the first successful heart transplant. As of today, transplants of organs such as livers, kidneys, lungs, hearts, bone marrow and many more have lengthen the lives of many individuals.The most critical part is the compatibility of a donor and the recipient, however, administration of immunosuppressant drugs can reduce the rate of associated risks.
The recipients of these organs have managed to leave many more years that they could have spent in their graves, had it not been for the possibility of this process.
Organ transplants is the next bus we board on our way to eternal life, let’s hope for a safe drive to mortality.
5. Stem cells
With extensive research ongoing, stem cells are another scientific vehicle assuring us a ride to immortality.
What are stem cells?
These are cells that give rise to all other cells with specific roles. Daughter cells are created when stem cells divide properly in the body or a lab to create more cells.
These daughter cells either develop into fresh stem cells or into differentiated cells with more specific roles, such as bone, blood, brain, or heart muscle cells. No other cell in the body has the capacity to naturally produce different cell types.
How are they taking us to immortality?
Stem cells will help sapiens to understand how diseases occur, this is possible as scientists study them developing from cellular to more advanced and differentiated organs.
Stem cells can be used to lengthen life by generating cells and tissues to replace the worn out or damaged ones.
They can also be used to generate tissues or organs which are used in organ transplant to reduce shortage of organ donors.
Finally stem cells can be used to test new drugs before applying them to human beings.
Bone marrow transplant is a good example of cell transplant that applies the knowledge of stem cells transplant.
It is an important study that once successful will be considered a giant leap in humanity. If we can generate more cells in the laboratory, generate organs and even organ systems, it’s clear that we can create our own human beings. This will mean that damaged organs or tissues are just replaced with new ones the same way old tires of a vehicle are normally replaced, and we continue living for the longest time possible.
4: Gene Therapy.
Genetic disorders have made life more difficult to many, with some genes existing in recessive forms and later becoming dominant in our offsprings. They have subjected sapiens to massive suffering. Some suicide have been related with the victims genetic make ups, some deformed body organs have been influenced by genetic make ups. In 2022, research confirmed that 41% of infants' deaths are caused by genetic disorders. WHO also confirmed that about 170,000 infants die yearly due to congenital disorders, which are slightly caused by genetics disorders.
To avoid search risks, Gene Therapy may provide a perfect solution to our offsprings. This is where we visit laboratories and decide the characteristics we want in our children. It gives the parent an opportunity to choose those more competitive and adaptive characteristics, dropping the less adaptive characteristics. In other words, when gene therapy becomes successful, you’ll have the opportunity to give Birth to Wiliam Shakespeare, Elon Musk, and any other genius person in one child. A child that is well equipped to face the world, a child that will continue further research to end immortality, a child that will provide green and cheap energy to the world.
Without a doubt, gene therapy can pull a magic bullet to death.
3. Cybernetics.
Not some Sci-fi movies, I'm talking about real cyborgs. Forget about the Terminator, or Cyborgs films. Today there are many cyborgs living among us and they are just like normal human beings. A cyborg is partly human beings and partly computers. Today there are many Individuals walking around with artificial legs, numerous individuals who regained their eyesights and many more.
Michael Chorost, American writer, was born with severe loss of hearing due to rubella. He gained his hearing through cochlear implants. A very beautiful story that he tells in his best selling book: Rebuilt: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human.
With cybernetics, we aim to create artificial bones, vision enhancement and brain computer interphases. These are likely to create a human being with enhanced psychological and physiological capabilities. Ability to fight illness and live beyond our expiry date. Living a half human half computer might be a sure way to assassinate death.
2. The Nanobots
Nanobots are microscopic robots that are cellular size which have the capability of navigating within our body cells to specific areas where an infection has been reported. After reaching the affected tissues, they then repair them and walk out like a plumber from your bathroom pipes.
Everybody may shout Eureka! When such an invention may finally come to life. With promising research, we believe that once they are invented, They will be able to cure infections that have been lethal to sapiens for centuries. Extending our lifespan, giving us a bus fare to immortality.
1. Digital Immortality.
Encoding the human brain into a computer system that operates with his consciousness is another way of achieving immortality. In this process, someone may die a physical death, but living virtually. It is based on the idea that the computer programme that has encoded the brain functions will keep this person alive in the virtual world. Just like religious fanatics believe that their souls will ascend to heaven in spirituality, digital Immortality preached that our consciousness continues virtually after our body is gone.
Various researches are ongoing on the process that takes place in the human brain after death, and how man's conscience behaves after Death. Silicon Valley billionaires like Peter Thiel the founder of PayPal, Sergey Brin and Jeff Bezzos have invested in various startups that are trying to pull the trigger to death.
If the above becomes successful, it’s clear that death will dance to the tune of her children like small pox, measles, poliomyelitis and other deadly diseases that she has been sending to finish us. However, we cannot be sure to become fully immortal, things like accidents will still kill us, we will be what Israeli Historian Dr Yuval Noah Harari described as us ammortal. And sapiens will be wiped by Homo Deus just like he wiped his cousins Neanderthal man some centuries ago.
Another point of concern is that immortality will be available to the few. It will be bought by billionaires while their poor cousins will continue living mortal life. Imagine living with God in the same apartment.🤔But again just like other vaccines and surgery that have lengthened man’s life, it’s clear that overtime immortality will be available to all.
Another concern is that, dictators and terrorist might use them as tools of oppression and destructions. But this too won’t be long as Dutch Historian Rutger Bregman says, “anything held dearly today was used as a tool of oppression in the past.” They might be misused for few centuries before sapiens developed sense and use them dearly later. Who knows.
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