October 15, 2024 | News

The Debate on the Limits of Human Life Extension Continues

What's the upper limit of human life expectancy? Researchers tackle this question in a study published in Nature Aging, noting the slowdown in the rate of increase since 1990 and the implausibility of radical life extension this century. However, Dmitri Jdanov and Domantas Jasilionis from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (MPIDR) provide a more hopeful commentary in the same journal, arguing that it is important to consider optimistic scenarios.

© iStockphoto.com / Jeremy Poland

How old can people live, and how much longer will life expectancy increase? This question has been the subject of much debate in the past. Now, a recent study by S. Jay Olshansky, Bradley J. Willcox Lloyd Demetrius and Hiram Beltrán-Sánchez on the "Implausibility of radical life extension in humans in the twenty-first century" has been published in the journal Nature Aging. The researchers conclude that the overall rate of increase in life expectancy has slowed since 1990 and that a radical increase in life expectancy in this century is unlikely.

Dimitri Jdanov, head of the Department of Demographic Data at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, and Domantas Jasilionis, a researcher in the same department, have written a detailed commentary on the study, also published in Nature Aging. They point out that further progress will certainly be difficult, but more optimistic alternative scenarios should not be ignored and encourage a differentiated approach. You can read the full article here.

News and Views article
Dmitri Jdanov & Domantas Jasilionis: Optimistic versus pessimistic scenarios for future life expectancy in Nature Aging (2024), DOI: 10.1038/s43587-024-00722-z

Associated content
S. Jay Olshansky, Bradley J. Willcox, Lloyd Demetrius & Hiram Beltrán-Sánchez: Implausibility of radical life extension in humans in the twenty-first century in Nature Aging (2024), DOI: 10.1038/s43587-024-00702-3