Factor N 5: Hi-tech biomedicine

For the individual concerned, medical treatment may obviously have a literally vital role in permitting a long and healthy life. But we should not forget that such "crisis-management", necessary and important as it is, is not the same as dealing with the aging process itself.

There is sometimes a temptation (and even, from the narrow "medical-industry" point of view, a commercial incentive) to live recklessly -- the most obvious example is of course smoking; closely followed by eating the typical "junk" diet -- and assume that the "repair depot" will be able to magically fix any resulting problems. (This is alas, all too often, a young person's perspective.)

Perhaps, by outlining examples of the "nitty-gritty" detail involved in some of the latest techniques, we may be able to give such a reader pause for thought. Prevention, where this is feasible (and in many cases it is), is incomparably better than cure!

There are several important new high tech biomedical methods and techniques, which are crucial for anti-aging and life extension:

Biomarkers of aging
Personalized genomic testing for disease riskEarly disease diagnostics
Stem cell therapy and tissue growth
Gene modification and gene therapy
Organ transplantation
Artificial organs