The exploration of anti-aging technology has been ongoing for millennia. While nature’s cycle deems all creatures prone to aging, youth, health and beauty are becoming more and more valued by the masses. Anti-aging products and biotechnologies should be encouraged because they hasten scientific development, enhance productivity, alleviate the downfalls of population aging and empower longevity.
Age-defying products attract investments and motivate intellectual development. Billionaires including Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg and Yuri Milner pour billions of dollars into the industry each year. Altos, the longevity research company, despite receiving billion-dollar grants from Milner, has raised another at least $270 million for experiments. As a result, it attracts talented scholars and university professors by offering compelling salaries of at least $1 million per year. In labs, scientists are editing the genes of major organs like the skin, muscle and brain to find solutions for reversing biological processes. The progress is remarkable - the 2012 Nobel Prize laureate Yamanaka has identified four new proteins that can be added to a cell and render it the malleability of its immature state. In 2013, Steve Horvath, a professor working with Altos, developed a molecular biomarker of aging that facilitates the experiment processes which usually take decades. Recently, scientists have discovered a new molecule that can selectively destroy senescent cells, potentially delaying tissue aging. These intellectual breakthroughs accelerate the development of science and research, which can benefit society and our longevity. Therefore, anti-aging draws investments and thus expedites the development of biology research.
Economically, the deceleration of aging strengthens the workforce and enhances productivity. On one hand, as individuals utilize anti-aging products, they can be active like a youth for longer years before they retire. They can thus add to the workforce and generate more momentum for the economy. On the other hand, the passage of time yields the elderly enriched experiences and wisdom. Employers with higher percentages of elderly workers are shown to possess more productivity because of their general scrupulousness and devotion. Within a company, multigenerational learning also produces a more innovative and thus efficient workforce. Additionally, older workers tend to have lower rates of turnover than younger workers, promoting organizational stability for employers. Consequently, anti-aging medicines lengthen our working years which promotes the economy.
Socially, age-reversing can ameliorate current population aging issues. As the developed world’s population is rapidly aging, more retired seniors demand pensions which are severely underfunded. For instance, Japan’s ratio of people less than 20 years old to those over 65 is plummeting from 9.3 in 1950 to a predicted 0.59 in 2025. The ratios of workers to retirees in various nations are drastically decreasing with most of them being anticipated to reach a 1.5 in 2100. In these cases, the elderly might have to rely largely on social welfare. Yet, offering them anti-aging products can reduce the risk of diseases and diminish the demand for healthcare funds. They can continue working to contribute to the economy after being rejuvenated and supply pension and welfare funding. Hence, anti-aging technologies activate the elderly and mitigate the aging population.
Some are concerned that elongating our lives will result in ennui. They believe life will outlive its worth as a feeling of utter weariness will result from a lack of satiety in our later years. Nevertheless, anti-aging is pursued by most of us, and should not be denied just because of the fear of boredom. Lives can be made enjoyable and fulfilled by working or finding hobbies to devote oneself to. As the elderly are as healthy as the youth or middle-aged, they can remain mentally engaged with work or social events in which they can find a sense of purpose. A longer lifespan and a lower risk of diseases also render us more time to build financial security that will support happier lifestyles. Besides, as beauty is pursued by human nature, as humans can have smoother, brighter, wrinkle-less skin through anti-aging techniques, people are more confident and content every day. Thus, reduced diseases and an elongated life promote living quality by providing us time to pursue our raison d’être.
Although present anti-aging technologies will only delay instead of reduce the lifelong risk of terminal disease, they expedite scientific discoveries, increase productivity, relieve society’s burden and promote longevity. It is worth investing because its long-term benefits and rapid progress prove it to be worth exploring.