Can We Live Forever?

2025-09-17

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Professor Brian Cox and our expert panel explore ageing, longevity and the science behind our lifespans. Human life expectancy has increased steadily over the last 200 years, but we may be reaching a ceiling. Is this our biological limit, or could the next big scientific breakthrough push it even further? Might repurposing existing drugs help extend our lifespans? Our panel of researchers answers audience questions about the societal impacts of longer lives, our cellular ticking clock, and whether we can learn anything from the...

Professor Brian Cox and our expert panel explore ageing, longevity and the science behind our lifespans.

Human life expectancy has increased steadily over the last 200 years, but we may be reaching a ceiling. Is this our biological limit, or could the next big scientific breakthrough push it even further? Might repurposing existing drugs help extend our lifespans? Our panel of researchers answers audience questions about the societal impacts of longer lives, our cellular ticking clock, and whether we can learn anything from the 400-year-old sharks of the North Atlantic.

Panellists

Lynne Cox – Associate Professor, University of Oxford
Paul Nurse – Director, Francis Crick Institute
Linda Partridge – Professor, Institute of Healthy Ageing, UCL
Andrew Steele – Author of Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old

Watch the video version of this episode and read a transcript on our website: www.crick.ac.uk/podcast/ageing

If you have a follow up question about any of the episodes in the series, email us: aquestionofscience@bbc.co.uk

A BBC Studios Production for the Francis Crick Institute

Music by John Biddle

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