Venki Ramakrishnan

So there are things we can do.

so what is your what is your hope what is the message what is the what is it you want people to take away from this well what i'd like people to take away from this is several things first of all there is no physical law that limits our lifespan

We live to be, the oldest person recorded is 122.

Nobody else that we know of has even exceeded 120.

So given our current biology, we do have a limited lifespan.

But there's nothing to say that we cannot alter things about ourselves that might extend it beyond 120 or 122.

That is an amazing thing.

It's not around the corner.

It may not happen for hundreds of years.

We may need to understand a lot more before that happens.

But just knowing that, to me, is amazing.

But knowing the causes of aging allows us to tackle aging at a fundamental level.

And if you tackle aging at a fundamental level, it might help us against diseases that are caused by aging.

For example, if we understand what is it about aging that makes you more predisposed to Alzheimer's, that would be a big deal.

If we could slow that down or prevent that, then we would be able to live without that fear of dementia.

If we could

improve our ability to tackle cancer.

Now, cancer is tackled at many different levels, but one of the causes, one of the risk factors for cancer is also aging.

As we get older, we're more likely to get cancer.

So I think there are lots of reasons why it's good to understand why we age.