REPRODUCTION
Curing ageing
Life extension, human rights, and the rational refinement of repugnance
Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
A D N J de Grey
Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EH, UK; ag24@gen.cam.ac.uk
Accepted 16 February 2005
On the ethics of extending human life: healthy people have a right to carry on living
Keywords: action/inaction; ageism; bioconservatives; life extension; repugnance
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Humanity has long demonstrated a paradoxical ambivalence concerning the extension of a healthy human lifespan. Modest health extension has been universally sought, whereas extreme (even indefinite) health extension has been regarded as a snare and delusion—a dream beyond all others at first blush, but actually something we are better off without. The prevailing pace of biotechnological progress is bringing ever closer the day when humanity will be able to act on the latter view by rejecting a clear and present opportunity for much longer healthy lives. Indeed, some biogerontologists (including myself) contend that that day has already arrived, to the extent that our hesitation in embarking on a vigorous "war on ageing" is already delaying the point at which a cure for ageing will be developed. Here I consider whether our present caution concerning the wisdom of truly curing ageing is likely to survive the increased scrutiny that
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This article has been cited by other articles:
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Farrelly, C.
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