Living to be 180 > 영어토론방

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Medical advances will push the human life span to 180 by the end of this century, but will the world be ready for that?

At the beginning of the 20th century the human life span was only about 49 years. Because of improvements in diet and medical technology, it was around 70 by the end of that century. At the rate that medical discoveries are now being made, the human life span could easily hit 160 or 180 by the end of this century. The question is : is that what we really want? Some people think that, for the sake of the planet, we should set a limit on how high we should go.

Since the late 1980s some remarkable discoveries in longevity research have been made. First scientists found that they could stop a body from aging or even reverse the aging process just by bringing the human growth hormone(hGH) secretion in the body back to its youthful level.

Now, less than 2 decades later, some scientists are talking about optional dying. That's how close they are to bringing a complete halt to the aging process. They've discovered a way to make cells live indefinitely.

An amazing discovery.
In each of our cells are chromosomes which carry our genes. Genes are what make us different from every other person and what make us look the way we do. At the ends of the chromosomes are sticky parts called telomeres. The telomeres control cell life.
Each time the cells divide, the telomeres seem to be the biological clocks that determine our maximum life span.
Medical scientists found that adding the enzyme telomerase to the cells in the test tube prevents the telomeres from shortening. The cells stay young and continue to divide indefinitely.
This amazing discovery has scientist thinking that telomerase could be put into a pill or a drink, and if taken at certain times during our adult lives, we could be made to live as long as we want. Another way scientists have been able to prolong life in laboratory animals is through DNA manipulation.
These discoveries make it almost certain that life span in humans will easily reach 180 or longer by the end of this century.
But while some people would love to be able to live forever, too long a life span would not only cause big social problems but stretch the resources of this planet to the limits.
Scientists calculate that for every 10 years added to human life expectancy, 2,5 billion more people will be added th the earth's population. So if life expectancy increases to 90, 20 years longer than now, we can expect an eventual world population to be about 13 to 15 billion. If life expectancy increases to 180, the world will have to support 23 to 35 billion people.
Some people might not want to live that long, but few people would probably choose to die if they had an easy way of staying alive. The question is : what would the world do with those old people?

Some of the problems that could occur.
* Even more global warming
* More wars between nations
* More crowding in cities
* Destruction of the rain forests
* Severe water shortages
* Increase in poverty
* More spreading of diseases
* Huge decline in the quality of life

Besides these potential problems would be the question of how it would affect the workforce. If people would be living to age 180, they couldn't be expected to retire at 60 or 65. Older people would compete with young people for the same jobs.

Question
1. It is certain that medical science will someday make it possible for us to live as long as we want. If that happens, to what age would you like to live and why?
2. What social problems will occur if people are able to live to 180 or longer? How will society be different from the way it is today?
3. If someday there is a pill you can buy that can keep your body young forever, will you take it? Why or why not?
4. How do you feel about getting old? Do you look forward to old age? How would you like to spend your old age?

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