The quest for immortality: myth or reality?

With advances in medicine and the modernization of lifestyles, life expectancy is increasing and fertility is decreasing. In short, the world is aging, with major changes looming: one of the greatest challenges of the century – yet completely overlooked – for developing countries will be the sudden aging of their populations; and the countries which are already experiencing this grand-boom must set in motion a profound social reorganization in order to adapt to it as quickly as possible. Views of old age – or rather old ages – are definitely set to change.

In this issue of Cahiers de Futura, we also address, through history, sociology and anthropology, the views we have on female aging, stigmatized through menopause seen as the beginnings of a slow decline. . But our representations are far from universal and seem to outline the beginning of a slow evolution.

The rise of biogerontology – which analyzes the causes of biological aging – goes hand in hand with a new representation of old age: that of a disease that can be treated. We therefore return with an investigation into theemergenceemergence and the repercussions of this audacious design, to say the least, and we invite you to dive into the heart of our cells in order to understand the latest theories on aging, the discoveries on the mechanisms at work and the many avenues to try to slow it down. , or even reverse it.

Finally, we invite you to take a (skeptical) look at the craziest projects promising to free ourselves from human finitude.

Because in a dying world, the business of immortality flourishes…

In the summary of this first issue, you will find:

1. Overview, challenges of global aging (p.6)

This is a major trend: the world population is aging, simultaneously experiencing an increase in life expectancy and a decline in fertility. But the challenges are not the same in industrialized countries, where demographic aging is already well advanced, and in developing countries, where it is expected to be particularly rapid in the decades to come…

Text by Marielle Mayo

2. Prospective: companies in the era of the grandpa boom (p.16)

In industrialized countries, the aging of populations is already a reality. It raises a whole series of new questions on improving the health and well-being of seniors, their place in society, support for dependency and representations of old age… giving rise to a profound reorganization social.

Text by Marielle Mayo

3. Menopause: views on female aging (p.24)

Menopause is often confined to medical discourse and seen as the beginnings of a slow decline in women. But this vision is far from unanimous: other societies consider it as a liberating step, while our Western representations outline a slow evolution.

Text by Pauline Fricot

4. Aging, a disease like any other? (p.30)

What if old age could be cured? The controversial theory is defended by scientists who seek to understand and counteract the effects of time on our body. But how did this, to say the least daring, representation of aging emerge, and what could its repercussions be?

Text by Pauline Fricot

5. Survey: understanding aging… (p.34)

As life expectancy increases and our outlook on old age changes, scientists are trying to unravel the mysteries of the processes that radically transform our bodies over time. In recent years, theories on aging have multiplied, as have discoveries about the intimate mechanisms that play out at the heart of our cells and our organs.

Text by Noëlle Guillon

6. …To better slow it down, or even reverse it (p.42)

Building on recent advances, “geroscience” considers that we can stop aging and is currently developing multiple avenues of research to try to prolong life in good health, or even reverse the effects of time on the body.

6. Decryption: youth at all costs (p.48)

In the Silicon ValleySilicon Valleyresearch on aging inspires projects, each crazier than the last, and billions of dollars are invested each year to
free ourselves from our biological limits. And this by all possible means: cryogenization, transfusiontransfusion of young blood, cellular reprogrammingcellular reprogramming… Overpriced treatments that are
still far from having proven their effectiveness.

Text by Romane Mugnier