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How Long Can People Live?
¡¡¡¡She took up skating at age 85, made her first movie appearance at age 114, and held a concert in the neighborhood on her 121st birthday£®
¡¡¡¡Whe n it comes to long life, Jeanne Calment is the world¡¯s recordholder£®She lived to the ripe old age of 122£®So is 122 the upper limit to the human life span(ÊÙÃü)?If scientists come up with some sort of pill or diet that would slow aging, could we possibly make it to 150£or beyond?
¡¡¡¡Researchers don¡¯t entirely agree on the answers£®¡°Calment lived to 122, so it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if someone alive today reaches 130 or 135,¡±says Jerry Shay at the University of Texas£®
¡¡¡¡Steve Austad at the University of Texas agrees£®¡°People can live much longer than we think,¡±he says£®¡°Experts used to say that humans couldn¡¯t live past 110£®When Calment blew past that age, they raised the number to 120£®So why can¡¯t we go higher?¡±
¡¡¡¡The trouble with guessing how old people can live to be is that it¡¯s all just guessing£®¡°Anyone can make up a number,¡±says Rich Miller at the University of Michigan£®¡°Usually the scientist who picks the highest number gets his name in Time magazine£®¡±
¡¡¡¡Won¡¯t new anti-aging techniques keep us alive for centuries?Any cure, says Miller, for aging would probably keep most of us kicking until about 120£®Researchers are working on treatments that lengthen the life span of mice by 50 percent at most£®So, if the average human life span is about 80 years, says Miller,¡°adding another 50 percent would get you to 120£®¡±
¡¡¡¡So what can we conclude from this little disagreement among the researchers?That life span is flexible(Óе¯ÐÔµÄ)£¬but there is a limit, says George Martin of the University of Washington£®¡°We can get flies to live 50 percent longer,¡±he says£®¡°But a fly¡¯s never going to live 150 years£®¡±
¡¡¡¡¡°Of course, if you became a new species(ÎïÖÖ)£¬one that ages at a slower speed, that would be a different story,¡±he adds£®
¡¡¡¡Does Martin really believe that humans could evolve(½ø»¯)their way to longer life?¡°It¡¯s pretty cool to think about it,¡±he says with a smile£®
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