[ExI] Anti-Aging: Belonging to Literature or Science

[Mike Dougherty]

On 9/10/07, nvitamore at austin.rr.com <nvitamore at austin.rr.com> wrote:
> Does anyone have thoughts about anti-aging belonging to literature rather
> than science?  And if so,please explain your thoughts and references.

I don't believe the concept of anti-aging can 'belong to' a single
discipline any more than geometry can belong to math.  The ideas
contained within the anti-aging label are going to thrive on work done
in other fields as much as it will stimulate seemingly unrelated
research.  To illustrate this I need only look as far as the sponsored
links that appear as google ads around my gmail:  everything from
"umbilical cord banking" to "diabetes literature" to cosmetic
applications.  Segregating ideas into simple disciplines will disrupt
the cross-pollination of research that often yields progress.  The
general public may not be able to follow the science of anti-aging
research, but the appearance of anti-aging memes in literature helps
prepare the zeitgeist for the eventual success of science.  That may
be an equally important effort for the writers as for the scientists?