SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL EDITION
Featuring 52 + 80 Minute Versions of the Film & Extended Oxford DebateCould the age-old quest for eternal life be realized in the next few decades? If so, is it even desirable?
The Immortalists follows two biomedical scientists seeking to radically extend human longevity through regenerative medicine. But not without controversy and concern.
Bill Andrews is a molecular biologist and famed long-distance runner now racing against the ultimate clock. "Hundreds of years from now, we're going to look back and be shocked by this horrible world we used to live in where people get old and die," says Andrews. Aubrey de Grey is one of the most famous figures in anti-aging research, a theoretical biologist. He believes the first person who could live to be 1,000 is alive today.
Andrews and de Grey differ in style and approach, but are united in their common crusade: to cure aging or die trying. De Grey proposes an intervention that would delete the telomerase gene in the body. Andrew's research is fundamentally the opposite — he is trying to trigger the gene in cells to produce telomerase.
They both publicly disagree with other biologists who believe that curing aging is neither possible nor desirable. In an Oxford debate, de Grey spars with British neurobiologist Colin Blakemore over the basic scientific and ethical questions.
As Andrews and de Grey battle their own aging and suffer the loss of loved ones, their journeys toward life without end ultimately become personal.
The Immortalists raises fundamental questions beyond whether eternal life is possible. How would being 'forever young' alter the human condition and our world?
SPECIAL FEATURESOxford Debate, Extended Exceprts (41 min) - Aurey de Grey debates Dr. Colin Blakemore: "Resolved - this house wants to defeat aging entirely." The debate covered the scientific feasibility and ethical questions.
Director's Cut (80 min) - Long version of the film
FEATURED IN THE FILMAubrey de Grey, Ph.D. DeGrey’s ideas about reengineering the aging process have made him one of the most famous figures in the field of “anti-aging research.” He is the founder and Chief Scientific Officer of SENS Foundation, a non-profit research facility dedicated to medical breakthroughs to cure aging.
William H. Andrews, Ph.D. An accomplished molecular biologist and a 61-year-old ultra-marathon runner. At his biotech company, Sierra Sciences, he is researching telomeres, the caps at the end of chromosomes that wither away as we age, and telomerase, an enzyme that reverses the effects of cellular aging.
Terry Grossman, M.D. An anti-aging physician and the medical director of Grossman Wellness Center in Denver, Colorado. He is the doctor “patients visit when they don’t ever want to die.” Dr. Grossman believes that there are three bridges to immortality. His clinic is a “Bridge One Clinic”.
Colin Blakemore Ph.D. A neurobiologist and former Chief Executive of the British Medical Research Council, an equivalent of the United States’ NIH. He believes that the quest to “Defeat Aging” is neither possible nor wise. Dr. Blakemore spars with de Grey in the hallowed halls of Cambridge University in a highly publicized “Debate of the Ages” about life extension.
Leonard Hayflick, Ph.D. Dr. Hayflick is known for discovering that human cells can only divide a limited number of times before they must die. He is a professor of medicine at UCSF and the author of the book “How and Why We Age.” Dr. Hayflick believes that any attempt to reverse aging is as futile as it is ridiculous.
Adelaide Carpenter, Ph.D Dr. Carpenter is a geneticist at the University of Cambridge. Early in her career, she made a breakthrough discovery in understanding how genes transfer during meiosis. She is married to de Grey.
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