Life is hardly more than a fraction of a second. Such a little time to prepare oneself for eternity !
– Paul Gauguin

The human quest for immortality dates back to ancient Mesopotamia (2100 BC), to the Epic of Gilgamesh. In his grief following the death of his companion,  Gilgamesh undertakes a long and perilous journey to discover the secret of eternal life. At the end of his journey, the secret is unveiled to him : “ Eternal life which you look for you will not find here. For when God created man, He let death be his share.”   He died soon after his awakening to the truth of life and death. But his name survived in the Epic of Gilgamesh written in cuneiform tablets.

Thousand years later, Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) searched for the water of eternal life during his conquests in Persia and Anatolia. The story has it that Khidr, regarded as a saint in Islam entrusted with mystical knowledge and guardianship of water, met Alexander in a cave. He explained Alexander the human potential to attain spiritual immortality even in this dark and mortal world.

Millenia later, research driven by the largest companies of the globe is endeavoring ways to stay “ forever young ” and even to reverse death. It has deciphered the phenomenal work of telomeres –the “caps” at the end of each strand of DNA  – involved in regenerating life. Besides protecting our genetic data, they are enabling the cell to divide and reproduce. However, each time a cell reproduces, the telomeres shorten and as they shorten so does our life span. Though the enzyme telomerase is expressed by human stem cells to replenish the shortening telomeres, its production slows over the life span and that leads to cellular ageing.

Scientists from the Stanford University of Medicine state that they have discovered a way to replenish  telomerase and consequently it would be possible to reverse aging. When applied to skin cells they found that these cells divided 28 times more ! If the key to auto-regeneration is found, then what has been science-fiction is becoming a reality for science is at the edge of reversing the ageing process and restoring youth. Meanwhile the hand of fate churning and turning its wheel remains beyond the borders of  the laboratory.

Duygu Bruce