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Meanwhile, a team of scientists in France, led by Dr Frangois If we can eliminate the effect of the free radicals, indefinitely Schachter, has been studying an equally critical system: the extend the number of cell divisions and possibly even restore human immune system. By means of a painstaking comparison growth to nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, what limits of French centenarians’ DNA to a control sample of the general would there be to human life? Even if we were to suffer disfigur- population, Schachter has already found one gene, named "HLA- ing accidents, new breakthroughs in tissue engineering could step DR", which is far more prevalent in the centenarian group. The in to repair and preserve our bodies. immune system, rather strangely, has the highest mutation rate of In the words of Dr Francois Schachter, one of the most eminent all body cells and is among the first to fail with age, leaving us scientists in the field, "There is no reason why we should not susceptible to all manner of diseases. The combined deterioration extend the maximum human life-span. We are very close to hav- of the immune system and the brain is central to the ageing ing the technology, and the pieces of the jigsaw are rapidly falling process which ends in natural death. into place.""” Why is the genetic copying system so imperfect? It would seem that the problem lies partly in the air that we breathe. Doug | LONGEVITY OF THE GODS Wallace, head of genetics at Emory University in Atlanta, USA, As we stand on the threshold of a huge breakthrough in the sci- has spent 25 years studying minute organisms called mitochondria _ ence of ageing, we have to ask ourselves whether the Anunnaki which exist inside every human cell. These mitochondria are the gods, who allegedly created us, were here before us. power plants of the cells, and thus of the body, synthesising oxy- There is evidence that our genes, the genes we inherited from gen (provided by our red blood cells) and other nutrients to pro- the gods, evolved over a long and peaceful period—elsewhere. vide energy for the cells' various functions. Wallace, along with However, while the laws of natural selection would statistically many other eminent scientists, believes that excess "free radicals" favour the development of longevity genes, it is difficult to imag- cause corrosive damage to the cells. ine that the gods naturally acquired life-spans of hundreds of Dr Frangois Schachter's colleague Marie-Laure Muiras is one of thousands of years. The feasible solution to this puzzle could be many scientists who are studying ways to reduce the damage that they artificially mutated their genes, using a form of gene caused by free radicals. Muiras has found in the centenarian therapy such as our own scientists are now researching. We are group a gene, named "PARP", which thus at a point in history where we may be responsible for specifying can begin to take seriously the textual the DNA repair process. If we could evidence that the gods appeared to be fully understand this genetic system, immortal. we could consider the creation of Detailed textual evidence If the gods did live so long, what genes which specified a super-effi- consistently suggests that the evidence would we expect to find? cient maintenance system. Fossilised remains, if they existed, An alternative defence against gods were trying to avoid would tell us nothing. The genetic ageing is to fend off the free radicals H i H ified code would also be mute unless we before they cause any damage. dilution of their artificially could march one of these super-beings Professor Rajinder Sohal has inject- enhanced longevity genes. into a laboratory (a most unlikely ed fruit flies with genes which pro- tect their cells against free-radical attack and has already successfully increased their life-spans by one prospect). The only evidence of such longevity would therefore be textual records and cultural impact. This is exactly what we find. third. Doug Wallace thinks it may be possible to overcome the A strange feature of the ancient Mesopotamian texts dealing effect of the free radicals by assembling a cocktail of chemicals to with the affairs of the Anunnaki is their preoccupation with hav- form a barrier around the cells. ing offspring by a half-sister. Under the gods' rules of succession, Recent research has begun to provide clues as to the exact the progeny of such an alliance became the legal heir in prefer- process of cell ageing. Scientists at the Geron Corporation, whose ence to the first-born son. This rule is recorded in the tale of the board of advisors includes James Watson (from the famous chief god Anu (who resided in "Heaven") and his two sons who Watson and Crick partnership that discovered the structure of the lescended to Earth. The first-born son, Enki, was displaced by DNA molecule), believe they may have discovered the biological the second-born son, Enlil, who was the offspring of Anu and his clock, the mechanism that controls life and death in the cell. It is half-sister. Enlil thus preserved his father's genes through the called a "telomere"—a repeating DNA sequence found at the tail male line far better than Enki. Such a practice seems strange to us of every chromosome and often compared to the protective plastic because it verges on incest. Furthermore, it increases the risk of tip of a shoelace. Every time a cell divides and the DNA in the _ inheriting two copies of a harmful recessive gene. Why then were chromosome replicates, this tail grows a little shorter. In a baby it the gods not only unconcerned about inbreeding, but positively in is about 20,000 'letters' long, whilst in a 60-year-old it is less than —_ favour of it? half this. When the telomere has been reduced to a certain point, The answer can only be that the genes of the Anunnaki were the cell stops dividing and enters a stage called "senescence". At _ pure and contained no harmful imperfections. This might explain this point, the cells and their functions suffer an escalating amount the rather strange meaning of the name of the Babylonian god of damage. Marduk (MAR.DUK, "Son of the Pure Mound"), possibly indicat- Scientists working for the Geron Corporation are quietly confi- ing the genetic purity of his father Enki. Detailed textual evi- dent that it may be possible to influence the length of a telomere. lence consistently suggests that the gods were trying to avoid This would be a dramatic development, with the possibility of dilution of their artificially enhanced longevity genes. preventing the vast majority of genetic copying errors arising in Nevertheless, whatever genetic improvements the Anunnaki the first place as well as enabling the restoration of youth to had made, they still experienced an inexorable state of deteriora- already senescent cells. tion. In addition to the examples cited earlier, my studies show If we can eliminate the effect of the free radicals, indefinitely extend the number of cell divisions and possibly even restore growth to nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, what limits would there be to human life? Even if we were to suffer disfigur- ing accidents, new breakthroughs in tissue engineering could step in to repair and preserve our bodies. In the words of Dr Francois Schachter, one of the most eminent scientists in the field, "There is no reason why we should not extend the maximum human life-span. We are very close to hav- ing the technology, and the pieces of the jigsaw are rapidly falling into place.""” consistently suggests that the gods were trying to avoid dilution of their artificially 62 = NEXUS Detailed textual evidence enhanced longevity genes. AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 1997