Scientists Revealed The Oldest Possible Age Any Human Can Ever Reach

Lots of us will absolutely hate the idea that the world will go on long after you’re not in it anymore. That’s not just because we’re going to miss loads of TV, either. Also, it seems that we’re in no way alone in that. Immortality – or at the very least living for a super-long time – is actually something that has fascinated us for centuries. 

Obviously, dealing with death in any form is a driving factor behind our desire to live for as long as we possibly can. And extending our lives has long been a staple of sci-fi and movies. Though it’s also found in literature, graphic novels and even religious texts. Take the biblical patriarch Methuselah. This figure in the three biggest religions lived longer than anyone else in the Bible – supposedly dying at the age of 969. Yes, immortality is all around us, and not just in the Dorian Grey sense.

According to the Australian Academy of Science, there is only one species believed to be “biologically immortal.” This is the Turritopsis dohrnii jellyfish, and it can apparently revert back to an earlier period in the cycle of its life. What else can survive the test of time, though? Well, let’s start with trees. We all know that Redwoods can live for centuries. But there’s a tree that has lived for thousands of years! No, really.

Step forward the bristlecone pine tree. Sure, it might not look much – knobbly, bare and clearly the worse for wear. But these North American trees have a very special quality. At the cellular level, they reportedly don’t wither with age. According to the BBC, these trees can live for over 5,000 years! Yet if that’s too plant-y for you, how do you feel about shellfish?

All the way from Iceland comes the oceanic quahog mussel. And no, it has absolutely nothing to do with Family Guy. Meet Ming the Mollusc – a creature the BBC called “the oldest verified solitary animal on record.” How did they know that? Well, much like a tree, the age of oceanic quahogs can be measured by the rings on their shells. And Ming was apparently a whopping 507 years old when he was caught. But what about other animals that don’t come with a handy, built-in aging system?

Take lobsters: those gorgeous little beasts that go amazingly well with melted butter. Though the American variant aren’t just delicious. They’re special in lots of other ways, too. The creatures can actually regenerate themselves even at later stages of their lives. Not only that: the larger ones can live up to 140 years, according to the BBC.

The British broadcaster also notes that while the majority of animals stop growing after reaching adulthood, American lobsters just keep going! And the longevity of these creatures is because of long chromosomes with special tips at the end called telomeres. These so-called repetitive nucleotide sequences actually help protect their DNA.

Then there is the Turritopsis dohrnii jellyfish which we mentioned earlier. This species forms into a miniscule larva which doesn’t turn into a typical mature jellyfish. Rather, it attaches itself to a solid surface and morphs into a branching structure known as a polyp. This apparently allows the creature to essentially live forever! Clearly, then, living a super-long time is possible in nature, so why shouldn’t that include our own species?

The natural world shows us that our dreams of longevity aren’t that outlandish after all. Let’s not forget that for most of recorded history, we were only expected to stick around for about 40 years, according to MailOnline. Thanks to improved water quality, health care, sanitation and nutrition, however, we’ve basically doubled that average life expectancy. So, we technically already live a super-long time. But we want more, and that wish might just come true.

Hands up: who wants to live for 1,000 years? Well, that’s what regenerative medicine researcher Aubrey de Grey claims humans around today could survive to. And she is not alone. According to The Week, researchers from Harvard Medical School believe that it could be possible by potentially reversing the process which sees fewer blood vessels being grown with age.

Financier and physician Joon Yun also has his own theories on how humans could reach the grand old age of 1,000. He notes that for us humans, the mortality rate for 20 year olds is 0.001 percent. Therefore, “... If you could maintain the homeostatic capacity of that age throughout your life, your average life span would be 1,000.”

Disney fans probably already know this, but there are some for whom medical science simply can’t move fast enough to halt their earthly demise. There is a way to help ensure that once medicine has caught up, people could live again. And that solution might be cryonics. For reference, that’s the process of freezing your body after you’ve expired and then thawing you out.

There are, though, just a few small catches when it comes to freezing humans. Cryonics Institute president Dennis Kowalski told Discover magazine that there’s a good chance your tissues won’t survive the freezing or thawing process. He explained, “There is absolutely no current way, no proven scientific way, to actually freeze a whole human down to that temperature without completely destroying – and I mean obliterating – the tissue...”

There are, though, some amazing things happening in cell research that might hold an enormous clue as to how and why we age. If we could stop our cells becoming damaged with time, we could, in turn, stave off the end. Apparently, it’s all to do with zombie cells. And yes, we’ve all got them.

Zombie – or senescent – cells build up in our bodies as we age. According to studies, the damaged organisms can speed up the aging process and even lead to conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and osteoporosis. That said, they may also hold the key to discovering how we can extend our lives.

Apparently, we may be able to eventually remove these zombie cells from our tissues. This, in turn, could slow the aging process significantly. Though research is still in the early phase and therapies are a long way off. Nevertheless, Discover magazine notes, “The ultimate promise of senolytics drugs is that of a panacea – a cure-all for the ills of aging.” Though it turns out that scientists may have found another route to a longer life. 

A May 2021 study published in Nature Communications claimed that humans could potentially live to 150 years old! Yep, you read that right. Researchers reviewed medical data from hundreds of thousands of volunteers, and, according to The Guardian, “[boiled] them down to a single measurement of ageing – the dynamic organism state indicator.” They concluded that our lifespan is limited by the gradual loss of physiological resilience, and the absolute limit of our lives is around 150 years.

But wait! There’s more. Singapore-based research firm Gero appears to agree with estimation of humans living to 150. It studied the so-called “pace of aging” among people in the U.K., U.S. and Russia. And the organization found that as we get older, factors other than disease pushed the body to return blood cells to stable levels after some kind of disruption. As a result, it concluded the aforementioned age limit, which we’re sure you’ll agree isn’t too shabby!

As Jennifer Aniston used to say, here comes the science. According to Gero’s findings, there’s a biological component to aging that we simply can’t stop. And that’s our reduced capacity to recover from injury, illness and even stress as we age. There comes a point at which we simply stop getting better. And that works the same for every one of us. Human bodies simply weren’t designed to live forever. So, how did those researchers land on 150?

The Gero study looked at just two deceptively simple things: blood cell counts and steps taken. Now, these two things ordinarily would have very little in common. But here’s where the team were super-smart. You’d expect blood tests to show whether you’ve had an infection or experienced any kind of stressor, and they do. Walking around, however, can reveal an almost identical picture.

Experts from Gero used the aforementioned dynamic organism state indicator (DOSI). This instrument takes into account lifestyle factors, age and illness to reveal how resilient the human body is and its ability to recuperate after a disease or injury. Study author Dr. Tim Pyrkov noted, “Calculation of resilience based on physical activity data streams has been implemented in the GeroSense iPhone app. It shows a complete loss of human body resilience – that is the ability to recover – at some age around 120 to 150 years old.”

Pyrkov said that the team also discovered something they had not been expecting, though. He told Scientific American, “We observed a steep turn at about the age of 35-40 years old that was quite surprising.” Yup, even at that age, your ability to bounce back is already diminishing. From there, it was a hop, skip and a jump to extrapolate the age at which your resilience disappears completely.

So, the study’s results sound all well and good. Though how many of us will really go through life without stress, accidents or illnesses? Every one of us will experience these things throughout or lives, of course. Barring living in a bubble, then, how could you max out your 150th birthday chances?

Well, you could do what Bulletproof Coffee founder Dave Asprey does. According to The Week, the entrepreneuer has equipped his house with a hyperbaric oxygen chamber and platform which vibrates 30 times a second in order to stimulate his muscles. Oh, and he takes 100 supplements a day. But, if you aren’t a gazillionaire, there’s still plenty of stuff that will keep you going for a good while. 

Naturally, you should aim to stay healthy for as long as you possibly can. Living for 150 years is all very well, but if you’re in a hospital bed for 50 of them, that might not necessarily be what you stuck around for. University of Illinois at Chicago epidemiology and biostatistics professor Jay Olshansky told Scientific American, “[Our] focus shouldn’t be on living longer, but on living healthier longer.” 

Heather Whitson is director of Duke University Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development. She told the publication, “Death is not the only thing that matters. Other things – like quality of life – start mattering more and more as people experience the loss of them.” Yes, we know this stuff is boring, but if you want to be around for flying cars, then it’s also crucial that you take care of yourself. For some hints, let’s ask some of the world’s oldest human beings.

Emma Morano from Piedmont in Italy was 117 years old when she passed in 2017. At the time she was the world’s oldest person and, having been born in 1899, her life spanned a whopping three centuries. Her secret? Well, according to The Independent, she said, “I eat two eggs a day, and that’s it. And cookies. But I do not eat much because I have no teeth.” Touche. What about Jeanne Calment, who lived to the ripe old age of 122?

Incredibly, Calment remains the oldest recorded person to have ever lived. In fact, she was around for so long that she once apparently met Vincent Van Gogh! The well-to-do French centenarian apparently loved chocolate. No, really. She reportedly put away 2 pounds of it a week for most of her life. Of course, good genes play a massive part in your longevity, and so does taking care of yourself. But if all this sounds a bit too random, and you decide to go the bleached denim route after all, then, we have some astonishing news for you.

It turns out the vampires might have been onto something all along. Three studies released by the journals Nature Medicine and Science found that aging mice had improved memory, higher strength and better endurance after being injected with the blood of its species. And if you’re worried about your hair turning gray before your time comes, there’s a reason for that, too.

Yep, many of us may notice that our hair has started turning gray earlier than we’d anticipated. An as it turns out, there could be a simple explanation behind it. You see, a group of scientists conducted a study on the matter in January 2020 – and they uncovered some fascinating findings.

The investigation took place at Harvard University, with 17 researchers coming together to look at the issue. But the project itself didn’t involve human test subjects, as the group focused their attention on another species. As it happened, in order to get their answers, they worked with a number of mice.

Over the course of the project, the scientists took an in-depth look at the reasons behind graying hair. And thanks to the mice, they were able to monitor the process up close, before coming to an interesting conclusion. From there, the group from Harvard shared their findings with the world.

According to the researchers, our hair can go gray for a very simple reason. And it’s something that most of us today are quite familiar with. They also identified a potential solution to halt the process and ideally keep the discoloration at bay.

There are few other issues that could explain why people go gray early. Back in 2013, for instance, a research paper claimed that smoking might be one of them. But that’s not all. It’s believed that a lack of iron, vitamin B-12 and protein could be blamed, as well.

However, while those issues can be addressed by an affected individual, there’s another circumstance at play. A person’s genetic makeup will determine when the graying process begins – and that’s something that can’t really be controlled. To explain more, a hair expert came forward to speak with the Healthline website in January 2020.

Lindsey Bordone – who plies her trade as a dermatologist – took a closer look at the science behind gray hair. According to her, you can’t stop the process at a genetic level, regardless of your feelings. But why?

It’s long been claimed that stress can cause a person’s hair to go gray prematurely. And at the turn of 2020, a group of researchers suggested that this notion wasn’t necessarily an old wives’ tale. Indeed, after conducting an in-depth study into the matter, they uncovered some truly intriguing findings.

The project originated from Harvard University, with 17 individuals ultimately credited in the published paper in Nature. Together, these experts attempted to monitor the biological effects of stress in their test subjects. To do that, they had to induce a certain level of physical discomfort to the mice in their possession.

Specifically, the researchers dosed the mice up with a chemical substance that resembled capsaicin. If that word sounds familiar in some way, there’s a simple reason why. Capsaicin, you see, is a component found in chilis. A few days later, the scientists noted that their test subjects were now sporting discolored hair.

When those results came in, they left the group rather intrigued. Ya-Chieh Hsu – one of the authors of the study – revealed that her colleagues initially had a different idea of how the process worked. You see, they thought that the immune system would perhaps attack the melanocytes – or pigment cells – during times of stress.

That assumption was eventually laid to rest, though, once the tests began at the university. Hsu and company focused on the mice that didn’t have immune systems capable of fighting the melanocytes. Yet despite that deficiency, the stress still caused them to develop gray hair, leading to another interesting theory.

With the immune system off the table, Hsu and her fellow scientists then questioned if one of the so-called “stress hormones” was to blame. Specifically, they focused their attention on cortisol. At that stage, the group attempted to take out the glands that produced the hormone in their test subjects.

However, just like before, the mice’s hair continued to go gray under stress, throwing another theory by the wayside. But Hsu and her colleagues remained undeterred, as they made one last hypothesis. Given what they now knew, the study’s authors believed that the sympathetic nervous system could be to blame.

This is the internal system that’s responsible for the “fight-or-flight response” when someone feels at risk. To begin with, Hsu had her doubts about this particular theory due to the short length of the reaction. In her mind, fight-or-flight wouldn’t last long enough to damage the melanocytes – yet her skepticism proved incorrect.

As it turned out, the sympathetic nervous system was producing an organic chemical known as noradrenaline. This caused the pigment cells to leave their hair follicles. Hsu shared her shock when she sat down for an interview with Time magazine in January 2020. According to the scientist, no one saw that result coming.

“We were really surprised,” Hsu admitted. “The sympathetic nervous system would have been the last system we thought about. We know it’s activated under stress but you normally think about it as an emergency system. For fight-or-flight responses that are at the very least transient and reversible once the threat is gone.”

Hsu continued, “But here, we found that the sympathetic nervous system can permanently deplete an entire stem cell population.” Alongside that, she also went into a bit more detail about melanocytes, too. While Dr. Bordone briefly touched upon the cells earlier, the Harvard researcher shared some additional insight with Time.

“Melanocyte stem cells are important in maintaining the pigment-producing cells in the hair follicle,” Hsu explained to the publication in January 2020. “And they are the only ones that can do so. Once they are gone, they are gone for good. The result [is] hair stripped of color, turned gray.”

Although these tests weren’t carried out on humans, the scientists still looked for ways to stop the stress from graying the mice’s hair. To pull that off, the small critters were given medication that helped with their blood pressure. Then, once the drugs were in their system, the group realized the graying process was essentially blocked.

On top of that discovery, Hsu and her fellow Harvard researchers made a big decision, as well. Using the test results, they could compare and contrast the genetic readings from their mice with some calmer ones. At that point, they were able to specify another troublesome issue behind the graying.

In the scientists’ mice, a protein called cyclin-dependent kinase – otherwise known as CDK – was shown to be present. They subsequently attempted to block that, too, which led to the same results as before. That’s to say, the mice test subjects no longer developed gray hair when they were stressed out.

Keeping that information in mind, it’s been suggested that people in the scientific community could create a new type of medicine to hold off graying. After all, if CDK is one of the culprits, researchers would know what they need to hinder. But Hsu tried her best to dampen any expectations by making something perfectly clear.

“These findings are not a cure or treatment for gray hair,” Hsu informed the BBC News website in January 2020. “Our discovery, made in mice, is only the beginning of a long journey to finding an intervention for people. It also gives us an idea of how stress might affect many other parts of the body.”

Regarding that latter point, Hsu elaborated during her interview with Time magazine. Even though the study was trying to prove the connection between stress and graying, it opened her eyes up to something else. Indeed, she admitted that the biological impact of stressful emotions was still unknown territory for her.

Hsu told the publication, “Stress is an inevitable part of modern life. But we understand very little about how it affects stem cell biology and tissue turnover. Hair color is an excellent starting point, because hair is so visible and easily accessible [to us].” And her words didn’t end there.

“But different stem cells and different organs may respond to the signals of the sympathetic nervous system very differently,” Hsu added. “And we don’t know exactly how yet.” As for the study itself, it went on to be published in a well-known scientific journal called Nature on January 22, 2019.

Titled “Hyperactivation of sympathetic nerves drives depletion of melanocyte stem cells,” the project soon caught the eyes of another expert in the field. William Lowry works at UCLA as a professor of biology, with a keen interest in hair. Unsurprisingly, the findings of the study left him fascinated, as he demonstrated to the WBUR-FM website.

“This paper really nails that, in the sense of figuring out what different types of systems in your body come together [to produce the graying effect],” Lowry told the site in January 2020. “Is this happening in different organs? Is this the canary in the coal mine? I think – sure. There’s no reason to think that this is a one-off.”

Meanwhile, Hsu made one last point during her interview with Time, reiterating what she told the BBC earlier about the future. The Harvard scientist concluded, “There is no treatment available [for delaying gray hair] at this very moment. There is still a lot of work to do in this area.”