Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

The meaning of ageing and longevity is changing. Is Singapore ready?

The successful augmentation of our bodies at a biochemical, cellular and even genetic level to delay death could result in breakthroughs with far-reaching implications for our lives and our societies. In an era of augmented longevity, ageing may no longer be an inevitability.

Developments in augmented longevity challenge us to reframe our view of ageing and strategically position ourselves to reap the next longevity dividend, says the author.

Developments in augmented longevity challenge us to reframe our view of ageing and strategically position ourselves to reap the next longevity dividend, says the author.

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

Human beings have always tried to live longer while growing older. Although ageing is still often associated with pessimism and decline, lifespans and healthspans have been significantly and steadily increasing over the past two centuries.

Furthermore, there are signs that the trend towards longer and healthier lives will continue, with increased investment in anti-ageing solutions and rapid advancements in biotechnology.

The successful augmentation of our bodies at a biochemical, cellular and even genetic level to delay death could result in breakthroughs with far-reaching implications for our lives and our societies. In an era of augmented longevity, ageing may no longer be an inevitability.

REAPING THE NEXT LONGEVITY DIVIDEND

Historical increases in life expectancy have led to significant benefits for society. Since 1840, human life expectancy has increased by about three months each year, or two to three years of increased lifespan with each decade.

This increase was achieved over a number of distinct phases marked by addressing specific healthcare issues and diseases, each resulting in a corresponding longevity dividend.

The first longevity dividend came from reducing infant mortality. By treating diseases such as smallpox, tuberculosis, typhoid and diphtheria, child and infant mortality fell significantly. This allowed more children to reach productive working age, with significant productivity and economic gains.

The second longevity dividend was and is still being reaped by tackling chronic diseases which tend to occur in middle age and beyond, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and cancer.

Through early health screenings, more effective treatments and public awareness campaigns to promote healthier lifestyle choices, individuals’ healthspans have experienced an increase estimated to be worth trillions of dollars in value.

Just as the mitigation of key causes of morbidity in each era was the source of the first two longevity dividends, the next longevity dividend will arise from addressing the next significant threat to morbidity: ageing-related illnesses and the ageing process itself.

The global population of those aged 60 years and above is projected to grow 56 per cent by 2030 and will double in size by 2050. The potential dividends from tackling ageing-related illnesses could be dramatically significant.

These dividends could come in the form of productivity gains through an increased number of working years and potential cost savings if the elderly stay healthy for longer.

THE ROAD TO AUGMENTED LONGEVITY

A confluence of developments across domains like technology, healthcare, engineering and genetic research suggests that we are on the brink of the next phase of longevity extension.

Investments in anti-ageing research suggest keen interest and momentum: in 2018, the global anti-ageing market was worth around US$200 billion (S$275.4 billion), and the new boom could be in drugs that slow, reverse or prevent age-related disease.

The diverse range of anti-ageing or augmented longevity interventions also indicates a deep and perceptible shift away from the passive acceptance of ageing as the norm, to ageing as an obstacle to be overcome via technological innovation. Examples of these augmented longevity developments include: 

Physical enhancements

Exoskeletons and other physical augmentations have an indirect but nonetheless powerful impact on healthspans. While they do not address the root causes of ageing and mortality, they can extend an individual’s physical longevity.

For example, Cyberdyne’s Hybrid Assistive Limb augments the physical strength of wearers and SuitX’s PhoenixX lets paraplegics walk unassisted for four hours at up to 1.1 miles per hour.

Smart wearables

This is part of a wider Quantified Self movement, in which the ubiquity of next generation smart wearable technologies will help individuals monitor their own state of health and gamify life-extending behavioural changes (increasing motivation to exercise, for example).

The combined power of personalised data analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and gamification techniques will significantly boost one’s ability to effect sustainable behavioural changes, be it for caloric restriction, healthier diets or a more active lifestyle.

While fitness trackers are already commonplace, their upgraded successors could be truly transformative due to the greater degree of customisation and personalisation of feedback and gamification which would become possible.

Individuals respond differently to different incentives and the ability of the next generation of smart wearables to adapt to unique users will have profound effects on healthspans.

Pharmaceutical drugs

Augmented longevity could be just a pill away, with current drugs showing great potential to extend healthspans.

Metformin, for example, a cheap, safe drug used widely for type 2 diabetes, has already been found to extend the lifespan of type-2 diabetic patients relative to non-diabetic controls.  Mice with metformin added to their diet have seen an approximate 40 per cent increase in their mean lifespan.

In December 2016, the United States Food and Drug Administration approved the Targeting Ageing with Metformin (Tame) study, which will study whether preventively administering metformin to healthy individuals can prevent or delay the onset of ageing-related diseases.

Tame is a significant milestone since it is the first drug trial to broadly target ageing-related processes. This paves the way for trials of other drugs that could extend health- and lifespans.

Social robots

Robot companions powered by AI could help to extend cognitive longevity by keeping individuals mentally active and purposefully engaged. Many of these devices, such as Paro (a therapeutic robot), are already on the market and the impact of mass adoption over the next few years could be transformative.

The growing awareness of an “epidemic of loneliness”, with attendant healthcare and social costs, make social robots a particularly important prospect for augmented longevity.

Rejuvenation treatments

There has already been success in regenerating muscles, tissues and organs through pluripotent stem cell research, the 3D-printing of organs, and the growing and harvesting of human organs in pigs. The routine and sustainable replacement of aged body parts could soon be within reach.

In 2017, biologists at the Salk Institute succeeded in growing human stem cells in pig embryos. The resultant organ would be made of a patient’s own stem cells, mitigating the risk of immune rejection. Swiss scientists at ETH Zurich have also developed a functional beating heart made of silicone and based on a 3D mould.

Gene therapy

The successful use of the gene-editing technique CRISPR has enabled a host of interventions that may extend health- and lifespans at the most fundamental levels of human biology.

In August 2017, scientists successfully corrected a genetic defect in newly created human embryos via CRISPR, demonstrating that gene editing technology could prevent the transmission of inherited diseases to future generations.

As scientists gain a better understanding of the genetic processes behind ageing-related diseases and the ageing process itself, genetic interventions may allow us to delay ageing or eventually defeat it entirely.

Taken together, these developments indicate that we are already living in the age of augmented longevity, and that we will live longer and healthier lives than our predecessors. This raises a number of significant implications.

New possibilities for extending healthspans and longevity

The dominant narrative in Singapore has always been to promote active lifestyles, healthier diets, early diagnoses and timely treatments in order to lengthen healthspans. However, augmented longevity technologies provide new possibilities.

First, gamification could be leveraged to spur individuals to maintain healthier lifestyles or post-treatment care. This, coupled with customised data analytics and feedback from AI-powered assistants, is where the next wave of longevity dividends will be reaped.

Healthcare apps and their AI assistants could save more lives than hospitals in the near future.

Second, drugs and supplements taken to prevent ageing-related illnesses instead of cure specific illnesses are a potential game-changer. Instead of ageing as an inevitable biological process, the Tame trial suggests the potential for targeting and blocking ageing-related processes.

Regular supplements to delay ageing could become as commonplace as Vitamin C tablets.

Ethical concerns and values-based conversations

New technologies and treatments present exciting possibilities but also raise ethical challenges.

First, in the early stages of adoption, these augmented longevity technologies are likely to be prohibitively expensive and may only be available to the wealthy. Ensuring fair and equal access for all will be an important issue for regulators to consider.

Second, it will be necessary to ensure that the clinical trials and marketing of new treatments are done ethically and do not exploit the vulnerabilities of those who are terminally ill and/or ageing.

Scientists and regulators alike have urged caution in fixating on a specific gene or biological process as a key determinant, as ageing is still a complex process. There should also be public education around the efficacy of new treatments so that individuals are not misled by exaggerated claims of longevity extension.

Third, the intergenerational compact between the young and the old will require careful management. New treatments will benefit the growing proportion of elderly, while the cost could be borne by a shrinking proportion of younger workers, especially if social structures, such as the retirement age, remain the same.

If seniors stay healthy and remain in their jobs beyond current norms, maintaining sufficient opportunities for younger workers will also become a pressing concern.

Therefore, there will need to be values-based conversations on how a nation’s resources and opportunities should be allocated between the competing needs of different generations (for example, longevity extension versus housing and education subsidies).

Moving away from age as a definitive marker

As new technologies lengthen cognitive and physical functioning, age becomes less meaningful as a marker of life stage and ability. Moreover, research has proven that biological ageing, far from being a static and intractable process, is significantly plastic.

This means that the decline in physical function is not tied to specific ages. A deeper and more textured understanding of ageing and longevity is needed.

Policies which are anchored by distinct ages as proxy indicators of ability, such as the retirement age, will need to be reviewed and updated to keep pace with advances in scientific research and technological innovations.

For example, an experienced older worker empowered by exoskeletons may be equally or better able to function in a labour-intensive job compared to a younger worker.

THINK NEW, LIVE LONGER

Developments in augmented longevity challenge us to reframe our view of ageing and strategically position ourselves to reap the next longevity dividend. We must anticipate fundamental disruptions to our assumptions about age, ageing and life stages.

The sooner we invest in new ways of thinking around what it means to grow older and live longer, the better able we will be to reap the fruits of living in a world where age is just a number.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Hannah Chia is a Special Projects Officer at the Ministry of Education. She was formerly Assistant Director at the Centre for Strategic Futures, which serves as a focal point for futures thinking within the Singapore Government. This piece was recently published in the centre's biennial publication Foresight, which covers research into international megatrends and emerging issues.

Related topics

ageing longevity work retirement healthcare

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.