Posted on 02/07/2002 6:19:20 AM PST by Starmaker
Question:
Who wants to live forever?
Answer:
A lot of people do.
Recently, scientists found something that may help. It won't grant anyone immortality, but it may begin to unravel some of the many mysteries of aging.
In Iceland, scientists have identified a small, mysterious stretch of DNA, a stretch of DNA with unusual effects. They have named it the Methuselah Gene.
The namesake for the gene was, of course, the Biblical Methuselah. A descendant of Adam and Eves son Seth, he is said to have lived for over nine hundred years. These days, people don't live nearly as long. There is a British woman whose age is authenticated at 113, and there was a French woman who lived for 122 long years.
However, humans living past the century mark are rare. Humans wanting to live that long are quite common, thus the excitement over the Methuselah gene.
It is being researched right now by the Icelandic biotechnology firm, DeCode Genetics. The firm´s CEO, Kari Stefansson, spoke about exploring the gene´s potential.
“There is no reason why we cannot do this,” said Stefansson, “We know the location of this gene. Soon we will study its exact DNA sequence and work out how it works in the body. You can then think of making drugs that could replicate its action.”
The gene was found by company researchers who traced birth and death records in Iceland. These records are unique, and trace back to the era of Viking eminence in that corner of the world. They allowed researchers to compare and contract Icelandic citizens who had lived for nine decades or longer.
A possibility was advanced: would 1200 Icelanders with an unusually long life span have something genetically in common with one another? Something which was not shared with a “control” group of 1200 shorter-lived Icelanders with comparable lifestyles?
The possibility was advanced. It had two subordinate postulates: the long-lived group might lack genes which predisposed others to potentially life-shortening medical conditions...or they might have a single gene which, for reasons which have as yet only been speculated on, extended the life of those lucky enough to have it.
DeCode researchers began their search for interesting genes in the genetic material of long-lived Icelanders.
“We simply did not know, until we studied our markers, and to our surprise found that old age behaved as if it was being conferred by a simple, single gene,” said DeCode CEO Stefansson. “Somehow this gene is making a protein in the body that is helping people live to ripe old ages.”
They had wondered if this could be possible. They had speculated on the possibility of such a gene. Now, they have found it.
What next? Are there other genes, more potent still then Methuselah? What mysteries in the DNA code have yet to be unraveled? And what do they have to offer to the future of humanity?
Someone, a long time ago, wrote something very complex and beautiful in genetic letters.
Slowly, one letter by one letter, we are beginning to read it. We could spend our lives, perhaps, reading it with out ever expending it all. Then again, that depends on how long are lives on Earth turn out to be.
Who wants to live forever? After all these years, it´s still an interesting question.
[Helmsman grins wickedly as he considers the possibilities...]
Besides, immortality would rob me of how I've instructed my family to dispose of my earthly remains: by being cremated while wearing a Darth Vader costume :-)
No where in the Bible does it state nor even intimate that Mary was translated nor did not die before she went to heaven and further does it state she did not give birth to other children after Jesus was born.
Therefore Mary did not remain a virgin after Jesus' birth.
In fact nothing is said of Mary beyond about the 13th Chapter of Acts.
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