Will we ever see a 200-year-old human?

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com @BednarChuck

From legends of the Fountain of Youth to classic comedy skits about people who have lived for more than two millennia, age has long captured the imagination of people all over the world who wonder just how far science may one day be able to stretch the limits of longevity.

Following last weeks death of 116-year-old Arkansas native Gertrude Weaver (who briefly was the worlds oldest living person), Discovery News posed the question, given new kinds of drugs and technology, can we push the limits of human lifespan beyond 130, to even 200 years?

Technology might keep us alive for even 1,000 years

According to the website, Aubrey de Grey, editor-in-chief of the academic journal Rejuvenation Research and Chief Science Officer of the SENS Research Foundation, claims that by finding a cure for a handful of diseases and developing new treatments for aging, we could one day wind up with humans who live for upwards of 1,000 years.

De Grey, who received his Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Cambridge and who is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the American Aging Association, and his SENS colleagues explain on their website that they not only fund studies on aging, but also conduct experiments of their own at their California-based research center, fund researchers through educational grants, and host conferences to discuss medical issues.

SENS explains that its goal is to address the cellular and molecular damage to a persons body that is responsible for aging without altering the metabolism. Instead, the group said that it is seeking new therapies that target and repair this damage treatments that apply techniques from regenerative medicine to the damage of aging called rejuvenation biotechnologies.

Age-related research projects: are they worth it?

However, as Discovery News pointed out, SENS is not the only organization looking to find the scientific equivalent to the Fountain of Youth. Dr. Joon Yun, a board-certified radiologist and the managing partner and president of investment management firm Palo Alto Investors, LLC, has recently offered a $1 million dollar prize to scientists who can reverse the aging process.

Similarly, Google launched a research division known as Calico Labs last year to study ways to slow the aging process and to combat age-related diseases. In March, that company reached a four-year deal with the University of Californias QB3 biotech institute to conduct research into longevity and age-related diseases. The goal, Calico said in a statement, was to better understand the biology of aging and to develop new therapies for treating age-related diseases.

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Will we ever see a 200-year-old human?