China's Zhou Youguang, father of Pinyin writing system, dies aged 111

[TomBAvoider]

One thing that is sometimes muttered about supecentenarians is that on the whole they seem to be fairly low on the social totem pole of professional achievements, often being janitors and the like. Some even speculate that such positions come with the advantage of low stress, unlike higher level work that might be more stressful. However here is an example of someone who achieved a quite high position and was a very prominent intellectual and achieved supercentenarian status (barely - but also, he's a male).

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38621697

 

I doubt he was as much of a fitness and exercise buff as Jack Lalanne who died at a paltry 96. I don't imagine his regiment was particularly full supplements or recherche diet, having spent most of his life in Communist China, some years of it in forced labor (re-education in rural setting). Makes me think of the oldest male at over 112, who survived starvation in Poland during WWII, a Jew in the ghetto and concentration camp - doubtful much of a healthy lifestyle and diet during that time. And yet. Genes, genes, genes, genes, genes, genes, genes. All our careful fiddling doesn't amount to a hill of beans compared to genes.

[Thomas G]

 

 

Genes, genes, genes, genes, genes, genes, genes. All our careful fiddling doesn't amount to a hill of beans compared to genes.

Soon enough our fiddling will include fiddling with our genes, genes, genes... with all the promise and dangers CRISPR/cas9 entails.

[TomBAvoider]

 

 

 

Genes, genes, genes, genes, genes, genes, genes. All our careful fiddling doesn't amount to a hill of beans compared to genes.

Soon enough our fiddling will include fiddling with our genes, genes, genes... with all the promise and dangers CRISPR/cas9 entails.

 

Yes, and once that happens it'll have a much bigger impact than all our fiddling to date. The only question is if people alive today - and middle aged or older to boot - will live to see the day when gene manipulation becomes a reality, and manipulation not just with the aim of curing diseases, but actually extending life and slowing the aging process... I hate to be a downer, but personally, looking at the world (and the pace of scientific progress), I'm not optimistic - hope I'm wrong. We'll see.