We live longer and healthier lives today than in centuries past because of remarkable advances in medical technology. We've already sequenced the human genome, cloned mammals, and replaced the human heart with an artificial pump. Soon we will understand the basic mechanisms of life. Not only is our understanding deepening, we are also gaining the ability to modify, control and repair the fundamental molecular and cellular structures from which we are made. The Fifth Alcor Conference on Extreme Life Extension is a meeting of scientists and individuals who are working toward the expansion of human health and longevity. The Foresight Institute sent me an announcement for this conference, which offers the following speakers, among others: Ray Kurzweil, author, inventor, and scientist; Gregory Benford, author and UC Irvine physics professor; Robert Freitas, author of _Nanomedicine_ and chief scientist at Zyvex; Ralph Merkle, formerly at Zyvex, now an Alcor director, and a VP for the Foresight Institute; Max More, of the Extropy Institute; Michael West, CEO of Advanced Cell Technology. |