Life Extension, Overpopulation

and the rights to life:

Against lethal ethics

Lau Yan Tung, Cheryl (16662288)

Wong King Ho, King (16673042)
Liang Shao Yu, Silvia (16659155)
Ma Ka Sau, Venus (16669347)
Choi Hiu Tung, Elise (16661648)
Kwai Ching Yin, Vincy (16671678)
Agenda

● Introduction
● Summary of the article
● Arguments
For
Against
● Discussion
● Conclusion
Introduction
Definition: Life extension science

● Anti-aging medicine, indefinite life extension, experimental

gerontology, and biomedical gerontology
● Study of slowing down/ reversing the processes of aging to
extend both the maximum and average lifespan

(Japsen, B., 2009)

Introduction
Things that consider as Life Extension

● Surgery
● Organ transplantation
● Medicine
● Vaccination
Introduction
Life Extension Foundation
● Established in 1980
● nonprofit organization
● Goal: discover scientific methods
○ control aging(slow and even reverse)
○ eradicate disease + age-related killers
● Improve the quality and length of human life
Summary of the article
Support Life Extension~ Rights:
● Right to life: Other ways to relieve overpopulation

⇩
Involve less serious rights violations

+
Ethically more acceptable
Summary of the article

● Two most popular theories of rights:

○ Interest theory
Persons are rights holders
○ Choice theory
● Not advocated → prolongation of frail + disable old age
↪ delaying of debilitating effects of ageing
News of life extension
● Mice:

increase the calorie intake up to

50% of their normal intake

life extension 50% longer

● Others: fruit flies, worms and yeast

Increases from two to ten times the subject’s life span

How about in human terms

News of life extension
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsXUAkRp8d0

0:10~2:10

● Extend your life by decades

● Yeast to turn off some genes
● Make organisms live longer
● Identified 238 genes
Arguments For Life Extension

● Ethics of life extension

● The right to life
● Adverse consequences if people have no to pursue
life extension
Ethics of life extension
● Medical staff:

Duties and responsibilities

Take care and treat patients in need

● Moral Obligation:

Donate organs to save patients

Use therapies to save people’s life

Make they live longer

The right to life
- Seek to live longer is our human right
- No one can control our life
- We should have the privilege to seek
to live longer since we were born
The right to life
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtMsSvPX658
 How many of you were
vaccinated in childhood?
Adverse consequences if people have no to pursue life extension

What will happen?

Pneumonia
About 450 million people in worldwide are suffered from pneumonia each year. (7% of
the global population)

40 million people died because of pneumonia

The invention of antibodies and vaccines improved survival

Life extension Save countless lives

 Black death
One of most appalling plagues in history

More than one third of the population died in the medieval Europe

The plague has killed about 75 million people around the world

About 30% to 60% of the total population died from the Black Death

No doctors and scientists to study the diseases and drugs to save the patients, to extend
their lives

Died a lot in the diseases and plagues

Arguments Against Life Extension

● Overpopulation
● Violate nature
Against: Overpopulation

● Life of the human can be extended to 120 years

● Mortality rate decreases.
● Population increases :
In 2040: the population is 8 billion
In 2050: the population is 10.5 billion
Against: Overpopulation
● Depletion of resources
(Water, Food, Fossil fuels) Famin

● Pollution
Greenhouse gas increase Global warming
Against: Violate nature

● Conservative Life extension

● No one can escape from death

● Non-natural method
Takes a lot of medicines
Accept surgical operation
 Population in China

Refute of overpopulation
Yea Million Chan Change / year
r ge

196 694.6 ------- -------

4

198 1008.2 37.6 + 17.42

● Population control 2

200 1265.8 275.4 + 14.31

Reduce the birth rate 0

201 1339.7 72.9 + 7.39

0

● Family planning policy

One-child policy in China
 Discussion
Do you agree that people receive life extension
therapies to seek to live longer ?

Group 1: Government

Group 2: Patient

Group 3: Scientists

Group 4: Businessman
Government

● Against life extension

○ Limited community resources
○ High cost of health expenditure
(HKD$17,228/per person)

(Food and Health Bureau,2014)

Scientists

● Responsibility:
- save the lives of patients
- create better societies
● Lengthening life ⇢ more motivated to improve the world
● Accumulate wisdom = precious resource
● Humans will always progress + create a better future
Patient
● For
○ It can be the second life chance
○ Can continue to do what they want
○ Know how to cherish their life

● Against
○ If there is any residual effects, the patient will want to die
rather than live
Businessman

● Agree Life extension

● Can build up an elderly economics market
● Eg.Services , articles, medical treatment, Nutritional
supplements
Conclusion
Our stance: support life extension

● Overpopulation: irrelevant to against life extension

○ Not that serious that have to use such a crude way to deal
with
○ Only little countries are facing serious overpopulation
Conclusion

● Ethics
✓ Responsibility of
○ Medical staff/ moral obligation saving patients’ lives
■ Cannot give up one’s life if he/she is likely to be
recovered, or survived from serious injuries/ diseases
● Right to life
○ Basic human rights
■ Seek for living
○ We are the one to control our own lives
Reference
Bostrom, N. (01 september 2005). Recent Developments in the Ethics, Science, and Politics of Life-Extension. University of
Oxford. Retrieved 8 April, 2017, from http://www.nickbostrom.com/ethics/life-extension.html

Cutas,D.C. (2008). Life extension, overpopulation and the right to life: against lethal ethics. Retrieved 9 April, 2017.

Domestic Health Accounts.(2014).Retrieved 11 April, 2017, from

http://www.fhb.gov.hk/statistics/en/dha/dha_summary_report.htm

Japsen, B. (15 June, 2009). AMA report questions science behind using hormones as anti-aging treatment. The Chicago
Tribune. Retrieved 9 April, 2017, from http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-06-15/news/0906140132_1_anti-aging-
hormones-ama-council

Life extension foundation. (n.d.). About Life Extension. Retrieved 9 April, 2017, from http://www.lifeextensionfoundation.org

Partridge, B. (03 March 2009). Living Forever: The Ethics Implication of Human Life Extension.Issues Magazine. Retrieved
8 April, 2017, from http://www.issuesmagazine.com.au/article/issue-march-2009/living-forever-ethical-implications-human-
life-extension.html

The Next News Network. (2015, October 14). This new genetic hack will extend your lifespan 60 percent! [Online video].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsXUAkRp8d0
Thank You