DAGLE, Maria Bianca English: Research Essay

9 – Emerald Mr. Gary Thurman

HOW CLOSE ARE WE TO IMMORTALITY WITH THE HELP OF MODERN

TECHNOLOGY?

Immortality has been portrayed in movies and books as a power or a supernatural ability
that grants something or someone the gift of eternal life. It has been perceived as something that
can be attained through sorcery or witchcraft. It used to be just a power that people will dream of
having because it is impossible to be attained. Now, with the help of technology that made a lot of
the impossible possible, the ability to live forever is now at the tips of our fingers. It might not be
as utopic as what we see in movies or read in books or simple as just drinking a potion or entering
a magical portal and going back immortal. There are a lot of Scientific Experiments, apparatus and
devices involved for immortality to be procured.

In 2017, the kit called AncestryDNA started to float around and became a trend among the
Youtube Community which gave it a lot of exposure. It led to youngsters trying it out for
themselves. The kit basically requires people to give them their DNA samples, through
expectorating spit in to a small container, and have it sent back to the AncestryDNA Laboratory
for deep analysis on the DNA Sample. After a while, people will be getting their ancestry results.
Around the same time, gene-editing was being made possible in another laboratory. MRT or
Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy was involved in the process of gene-editing and it involves
replacing just the mutated mitochondria with healthy mitochondrial DNA from a donor, while
keeping the biological mother’s and father’s DNA intact. You might be wondering why I’ve been
blabbering about DNA, and nothing about Immortality. Well, for Immortality to happen in the
modern world, it requires our DNA.