Calico, Google’s Anti-Aging Company, Announces New Research Facility

Re:Calico, Google’s Anti-Aging Company, Announces New Resear... by refurb on Thursday September 04, 2014 @12:03AM (#8266714)

I guess I think of it this way:

"fighting old age" - attempting to stop the aging process itself (i.e. longevity)

"fighting old age diseases" - looking to cure diseases associated with old age (i.e. treating a specific condition)

In the second example you could be treating a disease, but not having any impact on the aging process itself.

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Re:Calico, Google’s Anti-Aging Company, Announces New Resear... by TeMPOraL on Thursday September 04, 2014 @10:25AM (#8268399)

We need both. We already live long enough to see that if you clocked too many years, either your heart will shut down or you will get cancer and die anyway.

The ability to stop aging process might still end up somewhat limited by cancer, so both goals seem to be tightly connected.

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Re:Calico, Google’s Anti-Aging Company, Announces New Resear... by JoeAltmaier on Thursday September 04, 2014 @10:29AM (#8268424)

But is cancer as inexorable as aging? Nobody is going to live past 100 due to cellular degradation. What is the actual mortality from cancer?

I read once that if we didn't get old, death due to accidents would make the mean lifetime 800 years. I wonder what cancer does to that figure.

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