Human Longevity And The Health Budget

Human Longevity

And

The Health Budget

Joe Hockey

A recent comment was made by the Federal Treasurer of Australia, the Honourable Joe Hockey, to the effect that a child born in 2015 may well live to the ripe old age of 150 years.  Although the primary motive of the Treasurer in making this comment was to highlight the plight of the spiraling health costs and his difficulties thus far convincing the Australian populous that unpalatable change must be made to Medicare, the comment is not as farfetched as it may sound and here is why:

Child born in 2015 will reach the age of 150 years old in 2165 or a century and half from now.  If one were to look at the progress of medical science over the last 150 years and how that progress improved the average lifespan from 35 years for male 40 years for female in the late 19th century to now - 82 years for male 86 for females.  Substantial part of that improvement was due to hygiene thanks to Louis Pasteur, antiseptics and washing of hands.

The next quantum leap in improving longevity came in the early part of the 20th century when microbes that cause swathe of infectious diseases such as diphtheria and whooping cough came under the focus of microscopes and researchers such as Florey and Fleming the pioneers principally responsible for the discovery of penicillin that led to the discovery of other antibiotics and vaccination:Discoveries that made significant reduction in the death toll of injured combatants in World War II.  

By the mid 20th century the average lifespan was 60 for male 65 for female. However, the most significant quantum leap, more like a revolution than a leap, came in the early 1950’s when Watson and Cricks were able to decode the genetic material in cell nuclei, the so called “double helix” the DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) and RNA (Ribonucleic Acid).  

DNA has opened the doors for research once unfathomable

Let us stop here and think for a moment.  What the Watson & Crick discovery means, at least in theory, is that sample from diseased organ or abnormal growth can be genetically understood when compared with normal healthy cell. In other words the specific site in the double helix abnormal cell can now be identified and at least in theory, modified to make it normal.  The technology that enables that modification to take place is well within the realm of reality and herein is the reason for the fear and worry of Treasurer Hockey and his attempt to making the Federal Health Budget sustainable.

Within matter of 30 odd years after Watson and Crick decoded the double helix, DNA, RNA, and chromosomes thanks to ground breaking research by molecular biologist, the molecule of life revolution came into full swing and the hard disc of life became a reality.  We now know that 50 trillion cells make up the human body and that for as little as $1,500 one can obtain his or her full genetic hard disc!  

The potential for longevity provided by this genetic hard disc are beyond comprehension, a dream world   fantasy, but in reality it could well mean kissing death goodbye! We now understand that the much feared words cancer and metastasis are uncontrolled cell growth of cells that invade healthy vital organs leading to death.  But molecular research now tells us there are molecular causes for cancer in which a gene retrovirus hijacked normal health genes.  This behaviour could be replicated in laboratory mice, rats and guinea pigs.  This replication in laboratory mice, rats, and guinea pigs led to the discovery of new type of medications that enabled oncologists to successfully treat such conditions as chronic myeloid leukemia.  In recent years newer drugs became available to treat number of other cancers.  The costs of those drugs are currently prohibitive and one can fully understand treasurer Hockey fears about the explosive cost to the health budget.  It is likely in a matter of few years researchers will be able to crack the genetic genomes of currently untreatable cancers such as pancreatic cancer and cancers of the brain such as glycoma.   Once that genetic genome is cracked pharmaceutical conglomerates will come up with designer drug.

With this brief outline it is my opinion that Treasurer Hockey’s comment that a child born in January 2015 could well live 150 years dying in the year 2165 is by no means farfetched.

  Will this process will take 150 years?

 

Surreal as it may sound, it is my opinion that cracking the genetic code, understanding division of cells, mutation, and genomes had opened the possibility of genetic modulation of number of yet untreatable cancers.  If foresighted biotechnology companies focus attention on developing designer drugs human longevity becomes analogous to a string that in theory can be extended for as long as the eye could see.

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