To Age or Not to Age documentary

Short Synopsis

Imagine a 120-year-old living like today’s 50 year-olds. Possible? Yes, according to the scientists in Robert Kane Pappas’ new film, To Age or Not to Age

The scientists featured in To Age or Not to Age have found the means to postpone and possibly mitigate diseases tied to aging, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative diseases, and diabetes. Genes that control aging, among them SIRT2/SIRT1 genes, when altered, may, as a side effect increase our lifespans.

“People would age more slowly, stay younger longer, and remain free of disease for a longer time.”

—Dr. Cynthia Kenyon

While To Age or Not to Age profiles the science of aging, it also addresses some of the moral, religious, practical and economic implications of increased, lifespan.  Who will have access to the medicine? Who will benefit from the breakthroughs? Will the price of these compounds make this a drug for the elites?

There already exists a potentially catastrophic problem with overpopulation. What happens if we live even longer? What does that mean for societal structures, family, marriage, social security?  If we can postpone aging, should we? Or are we arrogantly challenging the laws of nature?  Where does evolution fit in?

“A lot of people think we’re biologically programmed to die, but the truth is that we’re biologically programmed for survival. There is no mechanism inside us that turns on to kill us when a certain period of time has elapsed.

—Dr. Thomas Kirkwood

The New York City screening will be followed by a live panel discussion. The panel discussion will be simulcast to venues screening the film nationwide and will stream live online.

Panelists include:

Dr. Robert Butler, Gerontologist, Psychiatrist & Pulitzer-Prize Winner; President and CEO of the International Longevity Center

Dr. Aubrey de Grey, Biomedical Gerontologist; Chief Science Officer, SENS Foundation

Dr. Leonard P. Guarente, Novartis Professor of Biology, MIT; Director, Paul F. Glenn Lab for Science of Aging

Dr. Gordon Lithgow, Biomolecular Geneticist; Head of the Lithgow Lab, Buck Institute on Aging

Moderated by Robert Kane Pappas, director of TO AGE OR NOT TO AGE