"Moon-Shots": Obstacles and Remedies

Humanity is at a cross-roads. We can keep waging wars over arid landmasses, building nuclear stockpiles, practicing phobias against those unlike us OR we can lay down porous national borders,foster collaboration, and work on the problems that seem intractable based on the current Technological Paradigms.

Let’s say we do the latter. The endeavors to solve these “intractable” problems would be considered ambitious to say the least. They would be “Moon-Shots”.I want to muse on the nature of moon shots.

Well , Moon-Shots are rooted in :

1) Basic research and

2) yield returns over the long term.

Basic Research can be described as untargeted scientific endeavors where knowledge is gathered for knowledge’s sake.

Applied Research on the other hand ,as the name implies is research where knowledge is gathered to solve a problem ASAP .

Some shining examples of basic research that lead to quantum leaps in our quality of life include:

1) Hydrogen masers that turned out to the cornerstones of GPS.

2) Ernest Duchesne study of microbial interactions that subsequently and un-expectedly led to the synthesis of penicillin.

I also want to list quickly in order of importance, some basic research being conducted today that can unfathomably transform humanity , and it isn’t hyperbole to claim as much.

1) Reverse engineering of the brain : There are three major initiatives underway namely a) The Human brain Project b) Brain Initiative c) Blue Brain project.

2) Anti-aging research : This includes the investigation of the cellular and molecular damage that accumulates as a result of essential metabolical processes .

3) Various Mars probes: that are studying the planets atmosphere , hydrosphere and chemical composition among other things. Last I checked , we are not yet poised for colonization.

Now,let’s consider the scientific, and socio-economic conditions that basic-researchers need to work in to live up to society’s expectations of them.

1) Myopic Capital Markets : that demand corporate projects generate payoffs immediately. Unfortunately, basic researchers are often employed by these corporations.

2) The Peer review process: that ambitious scientists are subjected to where there over-cautious colleagues evaluate the applicability of their findings , and often terminate promising lines of research.

3) A Pessimistic public: that does not want to pursue transformational technologies through government funded programs whose coffers it lines.

Contrast this with what I said earlier. Basic research is risky and reaps fruit over the long term if at all. So our world is not exactly conducive to it.

Lets table the discussion on these conditions for later

I now want to come to what I hope you will take away as the motif of my note: Anti-aging research. It’s opportune to introduce the acronym SENS.

What is SENS?

Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence or SENS is an organization that lists as its ultimate goal : The achievement of indefinite life extension. Indefinite Life Extension. Think about that

What is the science underpinning SENS?

Biogerontologist and SENS CEO, Aubrey De Grey has hypothesized in his books that there are 7 types of physiological damage that accumulate as we age. The science to undo these damages and achieve indefinite life extension was found to be robust during the Strategies for engineered negligible senescence (SENS) challenge , an event , hosted by MIT and adjudicated by luminaries like Anita Goel and Craig Venter who first sequenced the human genome.

SENS is now lobbying the medical, political and business community to turn it’s science into therapies and make it accessible to the least amongst us.

What problems is SENS facing right now ?

Specifically, it is this phenomenon of the “Triangular Logjam” or the “Negative Feedback Loop”.

What is this “Triangular Logjam”?

The triangular Logjam is visually represented below:

Remember the conditions I broached earlier under which basic research needs to thrive. They are associated with the three communities of the logjam above.

1) Voters and Shareholders: They are pathologically pessimistic . Their pessimism is well founded as they don’t hear Biogerontologists orate about medicine in the press the way JFK orated about Space or Jawaharlal Nehru orated about his country’s sovereignty.

2) Government and Industry: With their cynical attitudes Voters and Shareholders deliver their uninspired mandates to Government and Industry whose job it is to execute their will.

3) Biogerontologists : Government and Industry then interprets its mandate to fund only those projects that generate easy returns over short time horizons. Biogerontologists, fearful of being left to fund themselves or worse ridiculed, respect these Governmental and Industrial inclinations, by speaking tritely about the future of medicine in the press and pursuing safe projects. This triteness doesn’t exactly enthuse the public to be bold while allocating taxpayer money.

Is the the negative feedback loop/logjam now clear to everyone who has come this far in my note? I hope it is

The logjam we are stuck in is everyone’s fault , not any group in particular. It is up to us to unblock it.

Members of each community can contribute to that end by defying conventions of his/her community. Doctors can paint utopian visions of the future where centenarians play golf and beat teenagers in jeopardy. Politicians can make unpopular decisions to invest in moon-shots that don’t enjoy public support and risk loss of office. Voters and shareholders can make an effort to educate themselves on the technological possibilities to alleviate their cynical outlook instead of watching reality TV. But it is easier said than done. Here's hoping.