Scientists working on pill that lets humans live to 200

It will remove ‘zombie cells’ which cause ageing

虽然人类能活多少年从来没有一个确切的数字，但大多数人认为，如果有一个上限，那将是100岁出头。然而，科学家们现在正在创制一种药丸，可以让人类达到200岁！

While there has never been set number on the amount of years a human can live, most people assume that if there was a limit, it would be the early 100’s. However, scientists are now creating a pill that would allow humans to reach the age of 200.

《不老：长生不老的新科学》一书的作者安德鲁·斯蒂尔（Andrew Steele）博士向《每日邮报》解释说，无论是从物理或生物学角度来看，人类都没有活不到200岁的理由。

Dr Andrew Steele, author of Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old, explained to MailOnline that there is no physical or biological reason that humans cannot reach the age of 200.

“挑战在于我们能否发展生物医学技术，使之成为可能。

“The challenge is whether we can develop the biomedical science to make it possible.”

“过去每隔几年就会有一些研究指出人类寿命是有限制的，但这些研究都缺少一个关键部分：我们以前从未尝试过“治疗”衰老的过程。

“Studies come out every few years that propose some kind of fundamental limit on human lifespan, but they’re always missing one crucial piece: we’ve never tried treating the ageing process before”

答案就在僵尸细胞里

The answers lie in zombie cells

科学家们正在研究衰老细胞，也称为“僵尸细胞”，它们基本上是体内已经停止分裂的细胞。它们在人体内积累，然后将化合物释放到体内，加速衰老。

Scientists are studying senescent cells, otherwise known as ‘zombie cells’ which are basically cells in the body that have stopped dividing. They accumulate and then release compounds into the body that accelerate ageing.

专家相信，具有健康免疫系统的年轻人能够更好地清除受损细胞，但随着人们年龄的增长，它们不会被有效地去除，这就导致它们积累并引起与衰老相关的健康问题。

Experts believe that younger people with healthy immune systems are able to better clear the damaged cells but as people age, they aren’t removed as effectively which is how they accumulate and cause health problems associated with ageing.

2016年科学家们取得了重大突破，他们发现，通过向小鼠注射一种名为AP20187的合成血清，从小鼠体内移除其僵尸细胞可将其寿命延长多达35%。正是这些僵尸细胞导致其寿命缩短或产生许多与年龄相关的疾病。

A major breakthrough was made in 2016, scientists found that removing zombie cells from mice with a short lifespan and many age related conditions by injecting them with a synthetic serum called AP20187 extended their life by up to 35%.

“他们基本上在生物学上变得更年轻：他们活得更长，患癌症和心脏病的比例降低，身体虚弱得到改善，他们可以在这些实验中使用的小鼠大小的跑步机上跑得更快更远。老实说，它们看起来很棒，皮肤更丰满，皮毛更厚，“斯蒂尔博士说。

“They basically get biologically younger: they live longer, get less cancer and heart disease, are less frail, they can run further and faster on the tiny mouse-sized treadmills used in these experiments. Honestly, they just look great, with plumper skin and thicker fur” says Dr Steele.

“这向我们表明，衰老的标志物可以影响整个衰老过程，从疾病的风险到外貌，并且可以预防性地做到这一点。这是抗衰老药物的圣杯。

“What this shows us is that tackling the hallmarks of ageing can affect the whole ageing process, from disease risk to the cosmetic stuff, and can do so preventatively. This is the holy grail of anti-ageing medicine.”

如果不提高生活质量，延长寿命就毫无意义

Life extension is pointless without improving quality of life

拥有一家生物医学人工智能公司Gero的俄罗斯分子物理学家Peter Fedichev博士警告说，如果不改善生活质量，延长寿命将毫无意义，因为这些不照顾自己健康的人会比较虚弱，并且随着年龄的增长仍然容易生病。

Dr Peter Fedichev, a Russian molecular physicist who owns a biomedical AI firm Gero warned that life extension without improving life quality would be pointless as these people who don’t look after their health would be frail and still prone to illness as they age.

“这种延长寿命的方式将使他们的寿命超出了他们健康的范围，从而降低他们的生活质量，”Fedichev博士说。

“Such life extension would increase their lifespan past the end of their health span and thus reduce their quality of life” states Dr Fedichev.

科学家正在进行人体试验

Scientists are conducting human trials

这些抗衰老药物现在正在安全地进行人体临床试验，亚马逊创始人杰夫·贝佐斯（Jeff Bezos）和贝宝（PayPal）联合创始人彼得·泰尔（Peter Thiel）等亿万富翁已经开始投资这项研究。

These senolytic drugs are now being tested safely in humans and billionaires such as Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel have begun investing in this research.

它们以药丸形式产生，可以冲洗体内的僵尸细胞，并且可以在10年内推出市场。

Created in pill form, they flush out zombie cells in the body and could be sold on the market in 10 years’ time.

在上个世纪，医学和科学的进步，营养的改善，洁净的水和更好的卫生条件使人类能够活到80多岁，这几乎是20世纪初平均预期寿命的两倍。

In the last century, medical and scientific advancement, improved nutrition, clean water and better sanitation have allowed humans to live until their 80s which is almost double the average life expectancy at the start of the 20th century.

向文森特·梵高（Vincent Van Gogh）出售画布的法国女子珍妮·卡尔门特（Jeanne Calment），是已知的世界上最长寿的人，她出生于1800年代后期，一直活到1997年，当时她122岁。

French woman Jeanne Calment, who sold canvases to Vincent Van Gogh was the oldest known person ageing having been born in the late 1800s and lived until 1997 when she was 122 years old.

在她117岁那时，她仍然每天抽烟和喝一杯红酒。世上最年长的男人是木村次郎门，他一直活到2013年，当时他116岁。

On her 117th birthday, she was still smoking her daily cigarette and having a glass of red wine. The oldest man was Jiroemon Kimura who lived until 2013 when he was 116 years old.

爬行动物和两栖动物可能掌握着抗衰老的秘密

Reptiles and Amphibians may hold secrets to anti-ageing

密歇根州立大学的科学家也认为，衰老的答案就在长寿的爬行动物和两栖动物中，如鳄鱼，蝾螈和海龟。

Scientists at Michigan State University also believe that the answers to ageing lie within long-living reptiles and amphibians. Such as crocodiles, salamanders and turtles.

“如果你把一个人类细胞放在培养皿里，它会分裂大约50次才会停止，而可以活120年的加拉帕戈斯象龟，它的细胞会分裂超过100次，”斯蒂尔博士说。

“if you put a human cell in a petri dish, it would divide around 50 times before stopping, whereas a Galapagos tortoise, which can live for up to 120 years sees its cells divide more than 100 times” says Dr Steele

该团队希望在这些物种中发现的特征也可以作用于人类。

The team hope to uncover traits in these species that can also be targeted in humans.

“我们可能没那么幸运，这些（研究）都不成功；但如果有些成功了，那每一个进步都将给我们更多的时间来取得下一个成功。而第一个寿命达150岁的人可能就是某一位正在阅读这篇文章的人”斯蒂尔博士说。

“We might get unlucky and none of this works but, if it does, every development gives us longer to make the next one and the first 150 year old could be someone who’s reading this.” says Dr Steele.

该研究已被刊登在权威医学期刊《柳叶刀》上。

记者：亚历克斯·布里德尔

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