For as long as humans have been around, for
as long as there’s been life on Earth, death has been an inescapable reality. The fixed and final part to any physical existence. But, in the twenty-first century more than
ever before, this seemingly immovable truth is being put to the test… so are we now
on the brink of beating death rather than accepting it? This is Unveiled, and today we’re answering
the extraordinary question; are we the last generation not to live forever? Are you a fiend for facts? Are you constantly curious? Then why not subscribe to Unveiled for more
clips like this one? And ring the bell for more fascinating content! Are we Generation Death? Will we be the last human beings to die? These are questions that scientists are increasingly
asking, as we appear to inch closer and closer to achieving eternal life. A lot depends, of course, on how old you are
now. On which other generation you yourself are
a part of. The estimates do vary, but as of the early
2020s most suggest that Generation Z could be the first who will gain access to immortality. Wider predictions include the slightly older
Millennials as would-be immortals, too. But, unfortunately for Generation X, generally
considered to be those born between the mid-1960s and early 1980s, the prospects aren’t as
good… with very few estimates extending this far back. Right now, according to the most popular predictions,
you need to have been born in the mid-‘80s or later to potentially live forever. It's not all doom and gloom for Gen Xers,
though, and it’s not as though they (or anyone older than them) aren’t predicted
to have notably long lives, at least. In the last century, medicine has come so
far that the world’s average life expectancy has doubled what it was in the year 1900,
when lots of people didn’t live to see their 50s. Generally speaking, we’re all living longer. And that’s thanks to the twentieth century,
which saw an unprecedented acceleration in medical research and technology. Today, we’re better than ever at catching
and dealing with diseases. Now, we can vaccinate people, perform organ
transplants, and provide antibiotics to cure an ever-growing range of illnesses - including
some that may have once been terminal conditions. Plus we’re more clued up on healthy eating
and healthy living. For today’s question, though, we have to
go further! One new, increasingly popular piece of technology
is CRISPR, a gene-editing technique. And the potential for CRISPR is massive. It could be used to cure previously incurable
congenital conditions and possibly even to eradicate cancers. According to some predictions, it might even
be used to stop or reverse the ageing process. Already, there’s a huge industry built around
enabling people to feel and appear young, but CRISPR could be the final part of the
puzzle. And the most significant part, too. In simple terms, ageing happens because the
cells inside your body get worse at repairing themselves over time, deteriorating from your
youth and early adulthood into old age. With CRISPR, however, you could preserve your
body’s ability to heal effectively. Avoiding not only the ageing process but also,
according to some optimistic projections, conditions that more commonly affect us the
older we get, like Alzheimer’s disease. The key for today’s question is that CRISPR
exists right now and is being studied and used around the world already. It isn’t a hypothetical technology. It’s happening. So by the time Millennials and Gen Z are old
enough to worry about the natural effects of ageing, they may be able to apply CRISPR
and stop it in its tracks. CRISPR isn’t our only potential route to
immortality, however, and some see cloning as the best way forward. We’ve been able to clone mammals since the
1990s… but if we could, say, master the art of efficiently cloning human organs, we’d
be able to save millions of lives every year with custom-made transplants. Theoretically, in a near-future world we might
be easily able to replace any and every part of our body that fails - and might even be
able to artificially generate younger cells, to halt ageing that way. That’s the idea, anyway… and it’s easy
to see why many put their faith in a clone-centric future. The ethics of cloning are far from straightforward,
though. The typical sci-fi scenario sees humans cloning
entirely new versions of themselves, and sometimes harvesting those clones for spares. But, even if we had the technology to do that,
would it be right? The clone-you will have developed from an
embryo, just as you did… with a brain of their own and having grown up in their own
way. Which is why clone rights are increasingly
debated alongside this growing science. Almost certainly, there would be no way to
ethically implant your brain, your memories and personality, into the clone’s new and
improved body. Not without breaking any number of laws. With individual body parts and organs, the
general consensus is that it works… but with whole replacement bodies ad infinitum,
not likely! Cloning, in this way, doesn’t offer a clear
route to continue our own consciousnesses, either. And, at the lowest level, continuity of consciousness,
of self, is what we need for immortality. So, for the first generation to exist that
doesn’t die, it might be that cloning offers one tool toward eternal life, but not a definitive
answer. CRISPR and gene editing looks a better bet
for that. So, if Gen Z really do become the first not
to die, then what does our own history tell us about immortality? How has living forever been imagined in the
past? The general concept has existed in many cultures
around the world for thousands of years, often as some kind of divine reward. The oldest man in the Bible, Methuselah, lived
for almost 1,000 years, while various figures in Greek legend have had similar – if more
unpleasant – fates. Tithonus, for example, was the lover of the
Greek goddess Eos… and was granted immortality by Zeus at the request of Eos because she
didn’t want to watch him die. Famously, however, Eos forgot to ask Zeus
to also grant Tithonus eternal youth… and, so, the rest of his existence became torture. Stories surrounding eternal life often come
with some form of warning like this. Which leads us to ask; is immortality something
we should really be pursuing at all? If it’s not to be for some of us… should
we envy the first, future humans who never have to die, or pity them? It’s a question that has traditionally left
us divided. What do you think? For followers of various religions, ideas
on mortality and the afterlife often form incredibly important aspects of their Faith
- so, for many, immortality could provoke more problems than it provides answers to. Regardless of religious or cultural belief,
though, many people would say that they simply don’t want to live forever. It’s perhaps unsurprising, then, that the
world’s small (but growing) community of immortalists has faced various opposition
in the past. While the group isn’t particularly well
defined at the moment, these are people from all sections of society working and researching
to find ways to extend life. And, while most may not identify as an immortalist
exactly, there are growing numbers of doctors and scientists who believe that since the
ultimate goal of medicine is to save lives, immortality should be actively pursued and
is actually the most moral thing a doctor can do for a patient. One criticism often levelled at the immortalist
way of thinking, though, is that it goes to such great and all-consuming lengths to live
longer. Of course, it’s no bad thing to try and
improve your diet, or exercise more, with your own longevity in mind. But sceptics warn that in the future we could
see people putting themselves forward for more experimental procedures… or subscribing
to other, riskier lifestyles, in a bid not to die. And here’s where even the promised land
of immortality could perhaps turn into a dystopia, with everyone so committed to never dying
that they never actually live their lives normally, at all. Add into the equation that there could well
be a financial aspect to how immortality takes shape and takes hold of the human race, too
- wherein it’s only available to the very rich - and one of science’s ultimate goals
becomes even harder to actually visualise. At the moment, death comes to us all. In the future, it might not. But perhaps neither will immortality. If you’re watching this video and you’re
above the age of 35, living forever might never be an option for you - according to
the majority of predictions today. But, for anyone younger, you might possibly
see the first immortals in your lifetime. You might even become one. The tech and scientific knowhow could, according
to estimates, be with us before the end of the twenty-first century. It just remains to be seen how it will be
used. And that’s why we might be the last generation
not to live forever. What do you think? Is there anything we missed? Let us know in the comments, check out these
other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you subscribe and ring the bell for our latest
content.
