*:Shostak, S., Becoming Immortal: Combining Cloning and Stem-Cell Therapy. Albany: SUNY Press; 2002.

*

or

1) Death is a waste! 2) Life should be sustained!

Instead of endless cycles of birth and death, there should be a ‘few good species’ (including ours) with individuals that live forever!

1)The Earth is becoming uninhabitable!We must change if only to

preserve humanity!

Two good reasons and one compelling one.

In fact, Earth seems In fact, Earth seems to be threatened from to be threatened from several quarters.several quarters.

The Earth is becoming uninhabitable!

odds 10 to 1 in favor of impact with a massive asteroid Alvarez, L. W., W. Alvarez, F. Asaro, and H. V. Michel, Extraterrestrial cause for the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction. Science, 208:1093–1108; 1980.

and 7 to 1 in favor of death from volcanoes Coutillot, V., Evolutionary Catastrophes: Translated by Joe McClinton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1999. See pp. 140–142.

"Humans are injecting the same potentially toxic gases into the atmosphere at rates … comparable to those that may have been produced by an impact or the laying down of a giant lava flood." Coutillot, V., Evolutionary Catastrophes: Translated by Joe McClinton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1999. pg. 144.

Ultimately, Ultimately, we have no we have no choice! choice! Heating and expansion of the Sun will “wipe out the entire biosphere.” Tipler, E. F., The Physics of Immortality: Modern Cosmology, God and the Resurrection of the Dead. New York: Doubleday; 1994. pg. 18.

If humanity is to survive,If humanity is to survive,If humanity is to survive,If humanity is to survive,

we must find another home we must find another home and prepare ourselves to and prepare ourselves to

evacuate evacuate EarthEarthand we barely have enough

time!

we must find another home we must find another home and prepare ourselves to and prepare ourselves to

evacuate evacuate EarthEarthand we barely have enough

time!

Mars is unsuitable except for researchWhen Earth is uninhabitable, Mars will not be far behind.

Mars is too small to accommodate more than a small proportion of the Earth's population.

The Martian atmosphere can not be terraformed for long-term occupation.

Mars photographed from NASA’s Galileo

Use robots to find solar systems suitable for human occupation.

Begin the long process of terraforming—creating a suitable biosphere—new 'home.'

Engineer human beings for evacuation and life in the new 'home.'

but space flight will probably take thousands of years even at velocities of one tenth the speed of light!

What are we to do?Clearly, we must prepare ourselves

to live virtually forever if we are to make space flights of this duration!

Of course

Reproduction must be suspended on extended space flight!

Fortunately, both can be arranged.

Let me tell you howLet me tell you how

we can thwart death,we can thwart death,

bring human beings to the plateau of bring human beings to the plateau of permanence,permanence,

prepare for a future in spaceprepare for a future in spaceandand

escape our doomed planet escape our doomed planet byby

several possibilities:

1) immortalize through genetic engineering

How can human beings be immortalized?

2) immortalize through cloning

3) immortalize by combining cloning with stem-cell therapy

several possibilities:

1) immortalize through genetic engineering

How can human beings be immortalized?

“[M]ost genetic manipulations that extend lifespan cause major side effects…” Longo, V. D. and C. E. Finch, Science, 299: 1342; 2003

“Thus, it appears that in these very long-lived mutants, the degradation of all (or most) vital processes can be slowed down by affecting only very few genes at a time.” Hekimi, S. & L. Guarente, Science, 299: 1351; 2003.

2) immortalize through cloningHow can human beings be immortalized?

“A clone is supposed to be a facsimile of the nuclear-donor, but a human being, clone or not, is inevitably its own person… A personality is … unlikely to be transferred to the new body by a mere nucleus.” Shostak, S., Becoming Immortal. Albany: SUNY Press; 2002, pg. 12.

A clone is not an extension of a person! It is a person.

“[M]ost life scientist … are at a loss as to how to judge the import of human cloning, for example, a method through which the body could conceivably be reconfigured for the better.” Gins, M. and Arakawa, Architectural Body. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press; 2002. pg. xvii.

“The senior law lord … [told] Parliament, ‘An embryo created by in vitro fertilization and one created by cell nuclear replacement are very similar organisms.’” Stem Cell Research News, March 14, 2003, pg. 1.

Which brings us to

I’ll begin by showing you human life as it is

and go on to show it as it could be.

eggs & sperm

The way things arein

div

idual

Germ line

germ cells

occupies gonads (ovary or testis) between generations

Somatic [body] lines body and stem cells

Individual organisms are made of body and stem cells and their products.The organism’s body cells are developed from and maintained by stem cells.Death is the end of an organism’s lifetime.Development is the change in organisms leading to increased complexity.

blastocyst

The trick for becoming immortal is eliminating sex in favor of maintenance by stem cells!

senescencedeath

birth

embryo

fetus

preadolescence adult

A lifetime

com

ple

xit

y

fertilized egg

source of stem cellsand of embryo

inner cell mass = ICM

Organisms develop in the first part of their lifetime.

blastomeres

Stem cells make us the complex organisms we are in the course of development.

Stem cells bring us to the height of complexity

at pubescence and maintain us as well as

they can into adulthood, but they cannot keep up the pace when sex

competes with maintenance.

implantation

mutate, add genes or take away genes

So let’s give ourselves a permanent source of additional stem cells by providing ourselves with an internal blastocyst.

Actually, shouldn‘t be too difficult to promote maintenance by getting additional stem cells, since they are readily available in blastocysts.

Make an individual from one blastocyt by transfer to prenatal foster mother,

Making clones (the easy way)

separate blastomeres

but convert other blastocysts to permanent source of stem cells: the

‘generator.’

That’s where cloning comes in: only our cloned blastocyst would be immunologically compatible with us throughout our lifetime.

Culture blastomeres

Culture blastomeres

develop blastocyst

develop blastocyst

Turning a blastocyst clone into a 'generator' of stem cells and eliminating sexual development simultaneously!

separate clones

Graft ‘generator’ to embryo at site of developing gonad thereby eliminating possibility for producing egg or sperm!

Allow one clone to develop into future individual

Turn second

clone into ‘generator’ of

future stem cells

Getting rid of the germ line offers several advantages:

1)It will promote immortality itself “…germ line and somatic gonad act antagonistically to inhibit and promote longevity.” Tatar, M., et al., , Science, 299: 1346; 2003.

2)prevent reproduction: reproduction by immortals would result in an intolerable excess of population.

3)produce immortals able to endure prolonged space travel.

eggs & sperm

Somatic lines

Germ line

Replacesource of

with ‘generator

’

The way things areThe way they could by cashing in on biotechnology!

indiv

idual

immortalimmortal

As a result of replacing sex cells with the stem cells…

Immortals are permanently young!A lifetime

com

ple

xit

y

*

Organisms are immortalized at peak of

1) permanent prepubescence: caught at peak of creativity and athletic prowess

2) sex cells replaced by stem cells: sterile individuals equipped with endless source of stem cells

3) stem cells constantly monitoring and renewing all organs and tissues: permanent good health and well being

"Soon, reproduction will consist of replicating minds by multiplying them into new robotic systems—a much more powerful form of evolutionary success. But the greatest breakout to a dramatically new level of evolution will be the multiplication of minds into spacefaring robots that move into the cosmos, a form of reproductive success far beyond the scope that earthbound genes can hope to match." Gregory S. Paul & Earl Cox Beyond Humanity: CyberEvolution and Future Minds. Rockland, MA: Charles River Media; 1996. pg. 375.

we might immortalize ourselves as we might immortalize ourselves as robo/satellites?robo/satellites?

Alternatively

Cyber/nanotechnology and cloning give you a choice."When the overall technology base is so sophisticated and knowledgeable that it can stop people from aging, suffering, and disease, it is also likely that enough will be known to make machines that think, and then put peoples' minds into them. This is because both processes will require a similar sophisticated knowledge of how to manipulate matter at the molecular level." Gregory S. Paul & Earl Cox Beyond Humanity: CyberEvolution and Future Minds. Rockland, MA: Charles River Media; 1996. pg. 333.

the choicethe choice

is yours!is yours!

personal immortality,personal immortality,

robotic immortality,

or extinction?or extinction?

With gratitude toMonty Python’s The Meaning of Life. MCA A Universal Release; (1983) 1996.Shostak, S., Becoming Immortal: Combining Cloning and Stem-Cell Therapy. Albany: SUNY Press; 2002.

As a bonus, prepubescent individuals will not suffer from one of the most daunting problems faced by adults traveling weightless in space:

because prepubescent individuals produce larger amounts of the hormone than adults!

loss of muscle and bone mass due to reduced production of pituitary growth hormone

Which is not to say that growth hormone does not present other problems!