In this blog post, we will look at how close humanity has come to achieving immortality, from the ancient legend of the elixir of life to modern biotechnology and research on artificial brains.
Introduction to the Pretty Little Nematode
The nematode is a small, short nematode about 1 mm long, with only 302 nerve cells, and is the only creature whose information on all connections between nerve cells has been revealed. For this reason, it is a representative research organism that is widely studied in the fields of biology, especially genetic engineering, anatomy, and neuroscience. In a project called OpenWorm, which is composed of robotics engineers from the United States and the United Kingdom, the connection information of all the nerve cells of this nematode was programmed and released, and in 2014, it was successfully input into a robot to create the world’s first living robot.
This cute little nematode robot has received a lot of attention, not only from academics in the fields of robotics, biotechnology, and artificial intelligence, but also from the general public, as the “first artificial life form created by humans.” If many artificial intelligences, including the recently famous AlphaGo, are a kind of algorithm designed to mimic human thought and behavior, the Pretty Little Nematode robot has earned the title of “real artificial life” because it has implemented the neural network of a living organism as it is without any special algorithms. In addition to the creation of artificial intelligence or artificial life, this research has another important meaning. It is a new turning point in humanity’s endless quest for immortality, or eternal life.
Qin Shi Huang and the Elixir of Life, Juan Ponce de Leon and the Fountain of Youth
Since ancient times, humanity has dreamed of eternal life in various ways. Qin Shi Huang of China is probably one of the most desperate people in history to find eternal life. Qin Shi Huang, who unified China for the first time and enjoyed great power, made every effort to find the elixir of life and immortality, the “Fructus Immortalis,” even mobilizing the country’s finances, but in the end, he died of mercury poisoning without finding the Fructus Immortalis in his lifetime.
In medieval Europe, there was a popular story about the “Fountain of Youth” that promised to bring youth and eternal life the moment it was drunk. Juan Ponce de Leon, a 16th-century Spanish explorer, is famous for sailing across the Caribbean under the Spanish king’s full support in search of the Fountain of Youth. He had been searching for the Fountain of Youth since 1513, but he was killed by an arrow shot by Native Americans in 1521. His story became famous again when it appeared in “Pirates of the Caribbean.” As such, legends of immortality have existed for a long time in both the East and the West, and many people have longed to obtain it.
Pharaohs of Egypt and the idea of the soul’s immortality
The struggle for eternal life did not exist only in this form. Humans have long sought another form of answer in the afterlife. Although the body perishes and life disappears, they believed that they could attain eternal life for their souls in the afterlife through religious faith. The ancient Egyptians, who were the first civilization on Earth, were obsessed with the afterlife. The pyramids, various temples, mummies, and the enormous number of murals, hieroglyphs, and burial goods all show the Egyptians’ endless desire for the afterlife. They believed that they would be judged by the gods in the afterlife after death, and that if they passed the judgment, they would return to the present world and enjoy eternal life. The pyramids were built for the residence of the Egyptian pharaohs, who had traveled to the afterlife and gained eternal life, and the mummies were a device to preserve the pharaohs’ bodies without decaying them in the process.
Since the ancient Egyptian period, the idea of the immortality of the soul has taken root in various philosophies and religions. The great Greek philosopher Plato argued for dualism of the body and the soul in his book “Phaedo,” and said that the soul is immortal even if the body dies. Many religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, which are believed by more than half of the world’s population, talk about the immortality of the soul. Many people who have lived according to that belief have fought for immortality in their own way.
Modern science’s challenge to immortality
The quest for immortality has entered a new phase with the development of science. People no longer believe in elixirs of eternal youth and fountains of youth, and they know that the immortality of the soul has not been scientifically proven. However, with the development of life sciences and medicine, many diseases have been cured and human life expectancy has increased, bringing humanity closer to immortality once again. In 2015, genetic engineering researchers succeeded in increasing the lifespan of the nematode by 18% through genetic manipulation, and immunology researchers expect to conquer cancer around 2030.
At this point, the Pretty Little Nematode robot presents us with another answer. Without any other manipulation, it has created a robot that moves the same as the Pretty Little Nematode by simply implementing the connection information of the nerve cells. Of course, this robot cannot be said to be the Pretty Little Nematode itself because, like the Pretty Little Nematode, it does not eat E. coli or reproduce itself. However, a neural network consisting of 302 nerve cells that perform the same role as the human brain does the same job. In other words, we have created an artificial brain of the nematode. Someday, if we discover all the information about the connections of nerve cells in the human brain and program it, we will be able to create an artificial brain. And the moment when an artificial brain is implanted, just as if an artificial arm or an artificial organ is inserted, will be remembered as the moment when mankind has finally achieved immortality, which it has longed for.
Of course, there are many obstacles to overcome between the pretty little nematode robot and the human artificial brain. The human brain is incomparably more complex than the pretty little nematode, so it is unclear whether it is possible to fully understand its structure. Even if such a structure is identified, it is not easy to artificially implement it in a form compatible with other parts of the body. And it may not be possible to transfer the memories, knowledge, etc. that the existing brain has. Even if all of this is possible, there is also a philosophical question as to whether the person transferred to the artificial brain is the real “me.” There is also the question of how to maintain and manage the mechanical body, including the artificial brain. When I think about these mountains of problems, my thoughts may be no different from those of Qin Shi Huangdi’s “elixir of life” or Juan Ponce de Leon’s “fountain of youth” or the pyramids of the Egyptian pharaohs. But I am confident that research into these far-fetched possibilities will continue, just as humanity has endlessly challenged itself to achieve immortality throughout history. And I hope that someday, when humanity has truly reached immortality, this research will be remembered as a milestone on that journey.
