Why, You Don't Look a Day Over 100!

By Christine Gorman

Like many other denizens of the late 21st century, Sarah Higgins spent the first 75 years of her life coming to grips with the idea that she might live forever -- or what seemed like it. Despite some close calls, she was as healthy as the average 50-year-old woman in the late 20th century had been. A freak infection had destroyed her first heart, but fortunately she had a spare. It was cloned from a sample of her own tissue that had been stored away while she was still a teenager.

Naturally, every year her cancer check turned up a few malignant cells. But thanks to a century of advances in genetic engineering, that was no more threatening than a common cold. Her doctor used a computer to analyze the genetic makeup of the aberrant cells and generate a custom-made virus that would search out the wayward tissue. Then the virus would infect the malignant cells, injecting a handful of its own regulatory genes. These viral snippets would reprogram the microscopic tumor's DNA, shutting down its unruly growth pattern and transforming the cancer cells back into healthy ones.

But Sarah was ready for a change. She wanted to have children. So she strolled into the Reproductive Health Center to reclaim the ovary that had been carefully removed, frozen and shelved on her 21st birthday. She called up her fifth and current husband Abe and asked him if he wanted to have kids.

Since all of Abe's genetic papers were in order and the couple had already received government clearance to reproduce, they decided to take the plunge. Technicians at the center carefully removed a section of Sarah's excised ovary and thawed it. Over the next several days, they gently washed it with hormones, coaxing the follicles to generate 10 ripe eggs.

To help the fertilization process along, the center's microsurgeons drilled little holes in the surface of each egg to make an easier journey for Abe's sperm. Of course, the procedure had been a lot more intricate for the lesbian couple who had shown up earlier that spring. In their case, the nuclei from one woman's eggs had been carefully cut out and transplanted into her partner's ova. The resulting fusion created embryos like any other. But because women bear only X sex chromosomes, the "fertilized" eggs gave rise exclusively to girls.

After Abe's sperm had successfully penetrated Sarah's unfrozen eggs, DNA analysis revealed that all the embryos were healthy. Sarah and Abe decided to implant just one, destined to be a male. But because Sarah was something of a traditionalist, she opted to carry the baby herself rather than enlist the services of either an artificial womb or one of the center's 18-year-old surrogate mothers. A round of hormone therapy rejuvenated Sarah's uterus, and nine months later Isaac was born.

Sarah proudly admits that she would not change a thing. "I didn't want to have children until I was ready," the septuagenarian says with a laugh. "Now, Abe and I are emotionally and financially secure. We can offer Isaac all the advantages that we didn't have ourselves as kids."

Isaac will have advantages that his parents may not even have imagined. He will probably be enrolled in a nursery school where one of the most important people on the staff is a physician, Dr. Horatio Dean. The school's focus is summed up by a banner proclaiming that HEALTHY HABITS LAST A LIFETIME. Each day at noon, instead of recess, Dr. Dean gathers together his charges for a meditation session that the usually rambunctious youngsters particularly enjoy. "Pediatrics sure has changed since my grandmother's day," says the young doctor.

Back then, the body was treated like a machine. Illness was seen as a structural breakdown, and doctors specialized in repairing or replacing increasingly specific parts of the internal mechanism. But the 21st century's emphasis on prevention has changed all that. Physicians heal whole individuals instead of just treating subsystems. Study after study has proved that relatively simple alterations in life-style dramatically improve both the length and quality of life -- provided the changes are made early enough.

The most important aspect of pediatrics, 21st century doctors know, is to educate children toward good health. By weaning them on pureed broccoli, parents train their offspring to love cancer-fighting crucifers. When boys and girls get vaccinated against aids, they learn to use condoms as well. Pediatricians teach children how to boost their biochemical defenses against aging and disease, based on what researchers have discovered about the interplay between thought, emotions, hormones and the immune system. As a result, the foundation for 21st century medicine is now education, diet, exercise and meditation.

Dr. Dean checks the armbands on the biceps of his nursery school wards. Each monitor is composed of tiny optic sensors that measure the levels of thousands of different fats, proteins, carbohydrates and other molecules in the capillaries just under the skin. Then the devices transmit all this information to the central computer screen at the front of the room. The pediatrician can discern at a glance whether his charges are exhibiting optimal health.

The sensors count and evaluate, for example, all 24 varieties of cholesterol that have been discovered since the late 20th century. They keep tabs on normal molecules of oxygen as well as the renegade radicals that wreak havoc on individual cells and cause the body to age. No less important, the sensors constantly test the strength of the body's own cancer-fighting forces in the immune system.

During the meditative session, the children regulate their breathing and fall into a trance. As Dr. Dean watches his computer screen, the levels of carbon dioxide and other wastes in their blood begin to drop. Blood pressure falls. Among the more advanced students, a surge of naturally induced biochemical relaxants sweeps through the blood vessels and permeates the body. Interferon levels begin to soar. Neurotransmitters in the brain return to normal. This is the effect that Dean and hundreds of other physicians before him have worked so hard to achieve. By harnessing the powers of the mind, the body is healing itself.

After meditation comes recess, during which the children, still attached to their sensors, race around the playground. Dr. Dean watches their endorphin levels rise and nods in approval. Exercise physiologists had long ago determined that the combination of yoga, Tai Chi and low-impact dodge ball produced the best results. The regular release of natural opiates ensures that the children will not succumb to the poisoning effects of depressive or worrying thoughts -- and that excess aggression will be defused. Their immune function and cardiovascular systems remain at peak level. "Yes, this class is coming along beautifully," Dr. Dean congratulates himself. "None of them will suffer from the old scourges."

The exercise period in the middle of the day is calculated to blunt any hunger signals emanating from the children's stomachs. Back in the 20th century, scientists had learned that decreasing total caloric intake by 30% increased laboratory animals' potential life-spans by as much as 50%. When epidemiologists proved that the same equation held for humans too, lunch was banned. The sale of saturated fat was criminalized soon afterward, although a sympathetic doctor could still get you a prescription for a gram or two. Nonetheless, grease dealers face mandatory prison terms. And thanks to the ubiquitous armband monitors, fat abusers are quickly caught. "But that is only fair," Dr. Dean thinks. "Dying before 150 is inexcusable and results only from poor planning."

And yet, even in the 21st century, not all patients are created equal. Only the very wealthy can afford the hefty dollar price tag commanded by medical centers that clone and maintain such major organs as the heart. Preventive medicine, with its populist roots, has actually served to widen the gap between haves and have-nots. A case in point is the continuing AIDS epidemic. Developing a vaccine against the virus took much longer than anyone had anticipated. In the meantime, only the most privileged sections of global society could afford the extensive public health campaigns that kept the infection in check. By the time a vaccine was available, the killer virus had decimated thousands of communities in Africa, urban America and Asia. And so, although many people have benefited from 21st century medicine, a large portion of humanity must still pin its hopes on the future.

With reporting by David Gross/Boston and James Willwerth/Los Angeles Sources consulted for this story include Dr. Alan DeCherney and Dr. William Evans of Tufts University and Michael Murphy of California''s Esalen Institute.