How to live to 200

The Future. Advances in technology could soon allow people to double or even triple their life expectancy. While living longer would be a miracle, societies may need to already explore solutions to the societal consequences in store — retirement infrastructure, population density, and resource management.

Tech handicap
If you could live to 200 years old, would you? According to Fast Company, advances in these four technologies could make it possible.

• Genetic engineering. Although genes don’t really change from when a person is born, their epigenome — chemicals that affect genes — does. Editing, suppressing, or increasing these chemicals could extend a person’s life by decades. By 2025, the FDA expects to approve almost 20 such therapies.
• Regenerative medicine. Human tissue naturally breaks down, but new advances in stem-cell research (with some already approved by the FDA) could regenerate these tissues to heal themselves in old age. Additionally, growing new organs through 3D bioprinting or xenotransplantation is becoming more possible by the day.
• Healthcare hardware. Thanks to constant connectivity through the Apple Watch, Fitbit, and Oura Ring, wearables will be able to help users detect diseases before symptoms appear, with some potentially being embedded in our body. These trackers turn over the idea of “reactive medicine,” and could be constantly monitored by your doctor.
• Health data intelligence. Thanks to artificial intelligence, leaps in drug manufacturing and vaccine creation have skyrocketed. But Big Data can now even personalize medications by quickly mapping an individual’s specific makeup and then developing a cure tailored to their unique needs.

Welcome to the Longevity Revolution.