X-Message-Number: 25877
Date: Thu, 24 Mar 2005 08:29:19 -0500
From: Thomas Donaldson <>
Subject: comments on your message

To Doug Skrecky:

I note that deGrey is responsible for the article from GERONTOLOGY 
which you quoted. As you know, but others on Cryonet may not,
deGrey is an open immortalist.

Although the possibility he raises very well might turn out, one
experiment now in progress may answer his question: the experiment
on the lifespans of calorie restricted monkeys. Since monkeys live
much longer than mice or rats, this experiment will take more time
to show any amount of increased lifespan.

I have myself wondered about the application of research on worms
or fruit flies to our own human lifespans. (Even the worms are
closer to us than fruit flies). Ultimately we'll simply have to
see: deGrey's article was a speculation, not a statement of 
experimental fact.

However there is one fact that every way presently proposed to 
deal with aging does satisfy: all of them fail to turn the lifespan
curves of treated animals so that it shows only a random loss.
Even calorie restriction moves the downward hump of the lifespan
curve over, it does not do away with it completely. Even if some
presently suggested treatment succeeded on us humans, at best it
would give us more time to wait until true abolition of aging
became possible.

            Best wishes and long long life to all,

               Thomas Donaldson

Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=25877