I saw a show on the Discovery channel a while back that discussed this very issue. I'm not sure exactly how it would work and the specifics of it all, but the genes that cause aging and ailments that cause death manifest themselves when they are activated at an older age. If we could trick these genes into thinking that the body is still young, then they would never kick in, and none of the ailments that cause death would occur. Who knows if this could enable people to live forever, which is impossible considering that if a person lived a few hundred years he would probably die one way or another and eventually would die from climate change or an earth catastrophe, but the show seemed to come to the conclusion that it is theoretically possible if we are able to trick all of the genes that can cause death. Is there a doctor in the house who can shed light on this? JDLforever might have been able to. 
How about anyone else?
I'm not a doctor, but I know this subject quite well. And yes.. all living organisms are pre-programmed to age in our genes. If they weren't then evolution wouldn't happen. (That should be pretty obvious) Species age at different rates based upon this program. For example a 3 year old mouse will exhibit all the age problems that a 160 year old giant sea-turtle or whale would exhibit. (ie cancer, heart disease, etc). There are genes that we know of in nearly every organism that can extend ALL species dramatically. The most famous is known as Sir2 (which is what Resveratrol was supposed to inhibit). But they find new ones pretty much every year, but its a slow process.
At any rate, completely stopping aging would also completely stop maturing, therefore.... if we were born with no genes for aging.. we would never develop, go through puberty, menopause, etc. We know this.. because when we slow down aging in species... all these stages happen later than what they would normally. So ideally, the genetic tweaking would have to be done after we mature.
Theres also alternative strategies, like Total body transplants, which wont slow the brain from aging, and regenerative stem-cell therapies which would not work for all symptoms of aging.
BTW.. If it is ONLY for the wealthy... that would have a benefit... as rich western countries are experiencing declines in birthrates.. while Africa and the Muslim world's population is spinning out of control.. so at least immortality of the West would give our population a bit of a boost. But YES.. it would add to the already horrible population problem.
Brian
Topic: Do You Think Eternal Life Will Ever Be Medically Possible? (Read 1654 times)