The fountain of youth: cultural, scientific, and ethical perspectives on a biomedical goal

If effective anti-aging interventions were achieved, they would likely bring about profound alterations in the experiences of individual and collective life. What if modern scientists could find the modern equivalent to the Fountain of Youth that Ponce de Leon sought? This book addresses this question by exploring the ramifications of possible anti-aging interventions on both individual and collective life. Through a series of essays, it examines the biomedical goal of prolongevity from cultural, scientific, religious, and ethical perspectives, offering a sweeping view into the future of aging. (Publisher's Description).

The search for prolongevity : a contentious pursuit / Robert H. Binstock -- The quest for immortality : visions and presentiments in science and literature / Mark B. Adams -- Decelerated aging : should I drink from a fountain of youth? / Stephen G. Post -- A Jewish theology of death and the afterlife / Neil Gillman -- In defense of immortality / Carol G. Zaleski -- In search of the holy grail of senescence / S. Jay Olshansky and Bruce A. Carnes -- The metabiology of life extension / Michael R. Rose -- Extending human longevity : a biological probability / Robert Arking -- Eat less, eat better, and live longer : does it work and is it worth it? : the role of diet in aging / Gemma Casadesus [and others] -- Extending life : scientific prospects and political obstacles / Richard A. Miller -- An engineer's approach to developing real anti-aging medicine -- Aubrey D.N.J. de Grey -- An unnatural process : why it is not inherently wrong to seek a cure for aging / Arthur L. Caplan -- Longevity, identity, and moral character : a feminist approach / Christine Overall -- L'chaim and its limits : why not immortality? / Leon R. Kass -- Anti-aging research and the limits of medicine / Eric T. Ju…