Old people may hold the key to human civilization according to new research. They found evidence that, around 30,000 years ago, many more people started living into old age, in turn fueling a population explosion.

Nicholas Kristof considers the implications of genetic engineering research into delaying the aging process.

A new report from the U.S. Department of Commerce predicts that with the proper investments in technology, futuristic scenarios such as mind uploading, or humans living past 100 years, or people linking their brains together to form a global collective intelligence could come to pass in this century.

A forward thinking article that examines the implications of medical advances in human longetivity on sentencing law.

The search for the secret of eternal life has advanced a step, after scientists claimed they had located the gene responsible for healthy old age. Icelandic biotechnologists said they had isolated the Methuselah gene, which they believe could lead to the development of drugs enabling people to live longer.

Scientists have pinpointed the Methuselah gene - a stretch of DNA that confers healthy old age on men and women - raising the prospect that researchers may one day be able to create drugs that extend human life.

Scientists issued a warning on Wednesday about the potential danger of using an enzyme to immortalize cells for research or grow tissue to treat disease. They found that telomerase, the so-called fountain of youth enzyme that helps cells live longer, is linked to a cancer-causing gene and could increase the risk of disease.

Dr. Damien Broderick considers the implications of new advances in life extension research.

Virginia Postrel criticizes the viewpoint of ethicists who are opposed to life extension research.

Dr. John Harris, a professor of bioethics, warned recently that better treatment of disease could lead to "generational cleansing" as people live longer. The elderly could be condemned to death by suicide or euthanasia after an allotted lifespan as medical advances raise the maximum age beyond 120.