CONCLUSION

In  summary,  it  has  to be admitted  that  many  generally accepted and at first sight obvious notions about life  span have been put into doubt  and even refuted in this book. The following  is  a far from complete list of the  myths  which have  been  dispelled:  the myth that there  is  a  species-specific life span limit,  the myth that there is a  genetic program  which  determines  life span,  the  myth  that  the greater  life span of females is a general  biological  law, etc. The dispelling of these myths is however not at all the result  of  an aspiration for originality  or a  desire  for self-assertion in seeking out others' errors. The reader has the  right to draw his own conclusions on the basis  of  the arguments  presented,  and we will only be grateful for  any critical comments.  In the book,  we adduced rather a  large number of analogies,  and to conclude we would like to  make one  more comparison.  The biology of life span  at  present resembles  a  building  for  which  a  strong  and  powerful foundation has been constructed.  However, the completion of the  upper section of the building has been delayed  because the majority of investigators turned in their time to  other objects,  mostly of a molecular-genetic nature, which seemed to  them more promising.  As a result,  what we see  on  the foundation is a number of temporary barns, and quite a large amount of builders' rubble in the form of various scientific myths and prejudices.  Naturally, further construction would have been impossible without clearing the foundation of  its accumulated  debris.  Now,  it  seems to  us,  the  original conception  of the building has been restored,  and  we  can start  constructing  on  the  already  prepared  foundation. Unfortunately,  we  still  do not know  the  most  important thing.  The  concrete mechanisms which determine  life  span remain as yet unknown.  Nevertheless,  there is every ground for optimism,  since we can see the path to the  goal.  This path,  in  our view,  lies at the crossroads of biology  and reliability  theory.     

    If  we  are  to speak of the  positive  results  of  the investigations  that  have  been  carried  out,   the  basic positive  result must be that progress can be achieved in  a number  of fundamental problems of the biology of life  span simply by carrying out a quantitative analysis of data which have been available for a long time. In this way, simple and quite  general phenomena for the survivorship  of  organisms (the Gompertz-Makeham law,  the phenomenon of the historical stability of the age-dependent component of  mortality,  the compensation   effect   of    mortality,    species-specific invariants of life span, etc.) have been either confirmed or rediscovered.  On  the basis of the regularities which  were revealed,  it  was  possible to distinguish  the  biological component of human mortality, and to outline epidemiological approaches to the search for ways of reducing it.    

    Of course, the quantitative  analysis of already accumulated data is merely the first stage in the revival of systematic research in the biology of life span,  one  which is  essential for the preparation and organisation of large scale epidemiological studies, and for the completion of key experiments in the given field. Naturally, all these further research projects will require considerable expenditure, and the question arises: where should the necessary funding come from?    

    An answer to this question was given as early as 1978 by the  well-known  American  gerontologist,  Johan  Bjorkstan. Bjorkstan  asked his senator,  William  Proxmire,  to  place before  the  US  Congress  a  proposal  that  the   military expenditure of the USA and USSR should be cut by 50% on both sides, with the aim that the funds which were freed could be used for the opposite purpose: the development of methods of increasing active life span.  Bjorkstan also proposed that a joint Soviet-American scientific committee,  based on  equal representation,   be  set up to determine the best  ways  of distributing  funds  for the organisation of  a  human  life extension project (see Pryakhin,  1985). Unfortunately, this proposal was not supported by the American administration in view  of  the complications in  superpower  relations  which

existed  at that time.  However,  it generated a  reciprocal peace  movement amongst Soviet scientists  (Gavrilov,  1985; 1989; 1990; Pryakhin, 1985), and prepared the ground for the project to be ready to start at the present time.    

    In  1986,  a  scientific conference  on  "Mechanisms  of ageing  and  longevity"  was  held  in  the  USSR  with  the participation of scientists from the  USA,  Japan,  Hungary, Bulgaria,   Czechoslovakia   and  East  Germany.   At   this conference,   in  which  the  authors  of  this  book   also participated,  a  resolution was adopted  which  stated,  in particular:

    "The  conference  participants note that  the  resources which  are at present used for military expenditure and  the arms race are totally adequate to achieve the opposite goal: the  extension of human life.  In this case,  the fruits  of what   is achieved by gerontology might be enjoyed  even  by the present generation.    

    "The  conference participants wish to suggest the  motto 'Replace  the means of life annihilation with the  means  of life prolongation',  and appeal to the general public of all countries of the world to support the proposed initiative by all  possible  and available methods.  This  will  not  only permit  humanity  to  be  saved from  the  threat  of  self-annihilation,   but   also  open  up  before  humanity   the captivating vista of control over aging and the extension of life span" (see Gavrilov, 1990).

    In 1988,  the delegates of the 5th All-Union Congress of Gerontologists and Geriatricians (Tbilisi, USSR) unanimously supported  the above appeal,  and resolved to forward it  to the leaderships of the USSR and the USA.  In the  resolution adopted at the congress,  it was noted that "the development of  methods  of extending active life span is  now  a  fully realisable  project in which all humanity has an  interest". The  congress participants also came to the conclusion  that for the project to get off the ground "...  it is  essential for  the  level of financing to correspond at  last  to  the scale of the task" (see Gavrilov, 1989; 1990) .    All  that  remains is for the authors of  this  book  to agree with these propositions, and to call on the readers to assist  as best they can the successful development  of  the most  humanitarian of scientific projects:  the  project  to increase  the active life span of human beings.  It  is  our deep  conviction that this is a project which is capable  of uniting humanity in the 21st century, and becoming the basis of a new constructive humanitarian ideology (a new manner of thinking)   which   can  successfully   oppose   destructive nationalistic,   religious  and  political  ambitions.   The fruition  of the life extension project would be a  concrete manifestation  of  the idea that  humanitarian  values  have priority  -  a fulfilment of the human right to a  long  and worthwhile life.