Fortune Summary and Rebuttal Stipp, David. (April Term Paper

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 1108 words ( 4 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 0

Page 1 of 4

Fortune

Summary and Rebuttal

Stipp, David. (April 5, 2004) Chasing the Youth Pill. FORTUNE.

He or she who patents the pill that will magically extend human life, states David Stipp of Fortune magazine, will be not only healthy and wise, but also quite wealthy as well. Although most readers might take a more physical and personal interest in extending life, this reporter from Fortune Magazine points out that, as potential anti-aging drugs have become a legitimate research area they are also a potential financial bonanza for pharmaceutical companies and scientists.

According to Huber Warner, head of the Institute's Biology of Aging Program, the purpose of a recently funded study was to "identify drugs that foster a healthier old age" and also to discover "compounds that lengthen mouse lives" that "may well ward off ills like cancer, which shorten the lives of rodents as well as people." Stipp adds that drugs that "extend human life and confer a healthier old age are probably coming," and coming soon although, "perhaps not fast enough to make much difference to the baby-boom generation," he notes, presumably in regards to himself. "Even a drug that modestly slows human aging -- extending the average lifespan by, say, 15% -- would change everything," he adds, enthusiastically, although vaguely as regards to what everything might mean.

Thus Stipp's initial ethical analysis seems a bit shaky. In his commends regarding mice, for instance, he ethically equalizes curing the disease of cancer with prolonging natural, healthy, but invariably terminal aging. True, there are long-lived examples in natural history, such as France's Jeanne Calment. But she is the exception rather than the rule.

Moreover, Stipp also does not make a distinction in his article between drugs and other longevity methods, such as low calorie diets.

Stuck Writing Your "Fortune Summary and Rebuttal Stipp, David. (April" Term Paper?

View All Our Example Fortune Summary and Rebuttal Stipp, David. (April Term Paper

Have A Custom Example Essay Written

"Animals fed 30% to 40% fewer calories than they usually prefer to eat generally live 30% to 40% longer' and many individuals have put themselves on CR diets today. However, from a 'wealth standpoint' it might seem that there is little lucrative benefit for an individual who wishes to profit off of the longevity drive. Wouldn't a CR diet simply take more money out of the pockets of food sellers and drugs companies who benefit from cholesterol reducing drugs and drugs to treat the consequences of obesity?

Furthermore, calorie restriction as a lifestyle seems to harbor little hope for the survival of the species. Long-lived rodents are unusually small and infertile, only highlighting a rather 'creepy' aspect of longevity studies that Stipp, in his enthusiasm, does not seem to notice. When Stipp notes that "the mutants' idiosyncrasies support a theory that explains everything from the marked longevity of dwarf animals like Chihuahuas to the infertility of anorexic women," the idea of a future of skinny, old individuals and tiny dogs as the future of life upon earth is less than pleasant.

Another possibility exists in lab of Leonard Guarente, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology biology professor, which discovered an "enzyme called Sir2p that appears to act like a famine sensor: It registers calorie intake and, when it is very low, helps activate the formation of long-living spores -- a yeast cell's version of hunkering down in a state of slowed aging, "mimicking caloric restriction" in yeast. "Now the race is on" to determine whether it does the same….....

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Fortune Summary And Rebuttal Stipp David April" (2004, April 17) Retrieved May 7, 2024, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/fortune-summary-rebuttal-stipp-david-april-168393

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Fortune Summary And Rebuttal Stipp David April" 17 April 2004. Web.7 May. 2024. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/fortune-summary-rebuttal-stipp-david-april-168393>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Fortune Summary And Rebuttal Stipp David April", 17 April 2004, Accessed.7 May. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/fortune-summary-rebuttal-stipp-david-april-168393
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example