Lecture 3 – Could I live forever?
Every living thing – humans, animals, plants or a single cell – eventually dies, but why? How do cells know when to die? What controls the ageing process and could we ever halt it? Developmental biology and genetics give us new insights into how cells work and what happens when genes switch on and off.
Can we use this knowledge to improve or even extend life? And what are the ethical issues if we do? Would you really want to live forever?
About the 2013 CHRISTMAS LECTURES
Life is the greatest show on Earth from the lowliest worm to the mightiest mammal. Yet from the moment of conception to the formation of limbs, to the development of brains there’s something that all living things depend on: cells.
Cells grow, multiply, change, move, communicate and ultimately die. They are the very essence of life, but how do they work together to form it? Gradually we are beginning to unravel their secrets. Life is fantastic and full of questions, but as we reveal the answers more questions emerge.
The 2013 CHRISTMAS LECTURES, presented by Alison Woollard from the University of Oxford, will explore the frontiers of developmental biology and uncover the remarkable transformation of a single cell into a complex organism. What do these mechanisms tell us about the relationships between all creatures on Earth? And can we harness this knowledge to improve or even extend our own lives?