"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying," Woody Allen once wrote in his inimitable purple prose. The fact is - modern biomedical research has made palpable progress in deciphering the mystery of aging. Yet, the fact is physical permanence may not be immediate, albeit the day is not far when death would be essentially deferred, if not prevented.

The obstacles to youthful longevity are not just biological, but also political. A majority of our celebrated thinkers are at odds to the idea of long, healthy lives. As Leon Kass, a physician, put it, "The finitude of human life is a blessing for every individual, whether they know it, or not." Or, as author Francis Fukuyama emphasised, young geezers will "refuse to get out of the way; not just of their children, but their grandchildren and great grandchildren." Adds Daniel Callahan, a bioethics scholar, "There is no known social good coming from the conquest of death." His conclusion: "The worst possible way to resolve the issue is to leave it up to individual choice."

There is good reason for being optimistic from the scientific standpoint. "The prospects of dramatically increasing human longevity are excellent," says Steven Austad, a biologist. In addition, a handful of researchers also foresee the human race being placed at the intersection of the second longevity revolution. They aver that the first longevity revolution occurred in the early 20th century, as infant mortality declined, and infectious diseases were conquered. As a result, they add, more and more young people now enjoy the opportunity to become old and stay young in mind and body - notwithstanding the new, sinister trend of heart attacks, while working out at the gym, or elsewhere. The next longevity revolution, by contrast, they visualise, or reckon, will actually put off old age.

From nature's perspective, evolution in human beings has 'picked' a set of genes that keep our bodies in good shape long enough to mature sexually, yield progeny, and also raise them to maturity. All of this in about forty years of one's lifespan. The supposition is - if our body bestows a great deal of energy in repairing itself, it will reduce the amount it can dedicate to reproduction. While this may be good for individual bodies, our germ cells have no interest in keeping us forever young.

A case in point. Michael Rose, a biologist, had firmly established the evolutionary connection between sex and death by breeding fruit flies. Only those flies that reproduced late in life and bred them with one another were selected in the study. Result: the longer it took the insects to reproduce, the longer they lived. Rose's lab show-cased flies that lived 130, instead of the customary 40 days.

Research has found that the human genes which are helpful in promising healthy youth are damaging down the line. The tumour-suppressing p53 gene, for instance, keeps us away from developing cancer in early life. However, it does this at the price of stimulating our immune systems to raze the reserve of rapidly dividing stem cells that inflate our tissues over time. This is a simple premise - as our stem cells are 'annihilated,' our tissues deteriorate. The result is - aging, or what's called 'antagonistic pleiotropy.'

There are a host of factors that kill people too - from diseases to accidents. Hence, the big question: is there an upper limit on human lifespan? According to the respected magazine, "Science," life expectancy has been increasing at about two-and-a-half years per decade, for the last 150 years. To highlight an example - the maximum human lifespan, perhaps, was 122 years achieved by one nicotine-smoking French citizen, of all people, who died nearly three decades ago (1997). Maybe, a diet low in sugar, bread, meat, and dairy, focussing on plant-based foods, and regular exercise could 'turn the table' for us, somewhat.

There's more than a ray of hope - for healthy longevity. As "The Washington Post" once predicted, it may be possible for us to "re-seed the body with our own cells that are made more potent and younger, so we can repopulate our body." The next big exciting ray of light is stem cells, notwithstanding their starts and turns - but, when they come of age and get perfected, it will be nothing short of a roseate apotheosis for mankind.

The longevity revolution is here to stay and also expand over time. "For centuries," as "The FrontPage Journal" elaborates, "humanity has pursued the idea of longer life. Today, that dream is leaving mythology and entering laboratories backed by billions of dollars in investment. Aging, once seen as an unavoidable biological decline, is now being reframed by scientists as a treatable condition, one driven by cellular damage that could potentially be slowed, or reversed." It adds, "Modern longevity science lies in understanding the mechanics of biological aging. Research has identified key processes, telomere shortening, mitochondrial deterioration, DNA damage and chronic inflammation, that collectively degrade the body over time. These processes, described as the 'hallmarks of aging,' are now targets for intervention. Rather than treating individual diseases like heart failure, Alzheimer's, or cancer separately, longevity science seeks to delay, or prevent, them by slowing the root cause: aging itself."

This is not all. "Breakthroughs are emerging from multiple directions. In Silicon Valley, longevity start-ups backed by investors like Jeff Bezos and Peter Thiel are experimenting with therapies that aim to rejuvenate cells. One approach, called cellular reprogramming, uses modified genes to revert old cells to a more youthful state. Early experiments in mice have shown signs of restored organ function and extended lifespan." Meanwhile, pharmaceutical research is exploring senolytics - drugs that remove 'zombie cells' which accumulate with age and trigger tissue degeneration. Clinical trials have already begun for testing such compounds in human beings.

There hangs a tale - quite sublime.

Nidamboor is a wellness physician, independent researcher and author