Elites pouring
billions into gene-therapy research, But who will benefit from advances in anti-aging treatment? By
Leo Hohmann, 1/21/16, WND
Scientists have been
quietly working for decades to crack the genetic codes that allow humans to
live forever, or at least significantly longer. And judging by the bits of
information on this research that is beginning to leak into the mainstream of
human discourse, the idea may no longer be far-fetched.
Stuart Kim, a genetics
professor at Stanford University, recently appeared on Fox Business News
speaking about his work in the field of “gene therapy.” Kim said the scientific
community is close, about 10 years off, to developing a gene that could allow
humans live to 100 or even 110 years of age. “I have a lot of faith in the
scientists in the world.
They’re very creative
and doing amazing things. Ten years is a long time. Ten years ago, we didn’t
know about this thing called the CRISPR Cas 9 (gene splicing technique), which
has completely rewritten the rule book. Another 10 years, and we’ll have more
discoveries that aren’t even foreseen right now. And things will become
possible. And the incentive to live longer and slow down the aging clock is
enormous. So, if it even starts to become possible, I think there will be the
will to get it done.” Watch Dr. Kim’s full interview with Fox Business News:
But those who have been
following the developments in this realm of science don't believe Kim was
divulging everything he knows about the true state of anti-aging research. Some
obvious ethical questions posed by such advances in biotechnology were not even
broached by Kim or his Fox interviewer.
First off, if the day
comes when a gene is available that is capable of extending human life by 30
years, as Kim says is "close" to happening now, who would be eligible
to receive these treatments and who would pay for it? Would it be covered by
most insurance plans?
"I think people are
smart and will come to conclusions by themselves. The average person hears this
and will say, 'My insurance would never pay for this aging gene therapy,' and
they're right," says Paul McGuire, a Christian author who has addressed
man's quest for immortality in several of his books, including "A
Prophecy of the Future of America," "Mass Awakening" and "The
Babylon Code."
This research into
life-extending biotechnology would seem to be at odds with the current trend in
another field of science, that of automation and digitization, which are
rapidly replacing the need for humans in the production of good and services.
Current trends would
indicate that elites are seeking ways to reduce population growth, not increase
it. The theme of this weekend's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is
"the Fourth Industrial Revolution," with elites trying to figure out
how to prepare for life in a world where technology will eliminate 5 million
jobs by 2020, with millions more being eliminated over the next decade.
President Obama just
announced the government will invest $4 billion in the development of
driver-less vehicles (there goes the need for bus drivers and cabbies) while
self-checkout lanes have already eliminated the need for cashiers, ATMs have
eliminated bank tellers, and robots are eliminating factory workers at
break-neck speed.
If human longevity
increased from its current span of about 78 years for Western men and 80 for
women, to say 100 for men and 105 for women, who would support their retirement?
Who would pay for their medical care?
One of the main
criticisms of Obamacare and other government-sponsored health programs is that
there are no incentives to keep the elderly alive. They will increasingly be
seen as "useless eaters" whose fate will be decided by bureaucratic
"death panels." But what if there were a two-tiered health system –
one for the elites and another for the rest?
The need for secrecy
McGuire says its a good
bet that some degree of secret, age-defying treatments are already available
and being used on very select patients.
"Dr. Kim said it's
10 years off. That's baloney," McGuire said. "Can I prove it? No, but
the reality is that they are doing anti-aging treatments secretly already. We
already know the Defense Department is mixing animal DNA with human DNA in an
effort to create super soldiers. Their super soldier program is public
knowledge, and they've admitted it to one degree or another that they're
developing soldiers with super strength, night vision, and we also know they're
experimenting with implants that allow soldiers to turn off pain, giving them a
power high when they're exhausted. So of course they would be experimenting
with aging, and this is admitted by the doctor right there on Fox News."
The fact that many of
the world's top elites seem to recover from diseases that prove deadly for so
many regular folks is not lost on researchers like McGuire.
What do men like David
Rockefeller, Henry Kissinger, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole and
George Schultz all have in common? They're all over 90 and still working at
least part time.
·
Rockefeller, an
international banker and philanthropist, turned 100 last summer and reportedly
has survived multiple heart attacks.
·
Kissinger is 92 and
still advising presidents.
·
Former President Carter
is 91 and just received an experimental treatment that allegedly left him cured
of Stage 4 cancer.
·
Former President Bush is
91 and survived a serious bout with pneumonia last year.
·
Former Sen. Bob Dole of
Kansas has survived many physical setbacks, yet continues to make occasional
public appearances and work part time practicing law at age 92.
·
Former Secretary of
State Schultz is 95 and still leads an active professional life as chairman of
JPMorgan Chase's International Advisory Council while lobbying GOP members of
Congress on the need to combat climate change.
"I have been doing
research on this for years and following it very closely," McGuire said.
"First of all, the doctor from Stanford was lying, because the elite
already have access to this and many other anti-aging and cutting-edge medical
treatments that are kept secret from the American public because it is not
cost-effective to have the masses of people live longer.
"Notice how
Kissinger, Rockefeller and a whole bunch of elites are getting quite old, but
they are still flying around the world. They are receiving all kinds of
treatments privately that an HMO or Obamacare will never offer."
Follow the money
If the old adage is true
that if you want to decipher future trends, "follow the money," then
it should not be surprising that ant-aging treatments are developing at hyper
speed.
Some of the world's
richest men are investing heavily in immortality.
Peter Thiel, co-founder
of PayPal and the first outside investor in Facebook, is throwing millions into
anti-aging scientific experimentation. He was among the several billionaires
showcased in a recent Washington Post article titled "Tech
Titans' Latest Project: Defy Death."
Thiel is working with a
network of scientists to explore key research on how to slow down the aging
process and extend lifespans to as high as 150 years. Among his proteges are
Cynthia Kenyon, a molecular biologist and biogerontologist who doubled the life
span of a roundworm by disabling a single gene. Then there's Aubrey de Grey, an
eccentric British computer scientist turned theoretician who predicted that
scientists will not only slow down but stop aging.
Thiel, working with de
Grey, helped established the SENS
Research Foundation, whose tagline is
"reimagine aging," to achieve physical immortality.
"Almost every human
being who has ever lived is dead. Solving this problem is the most natural,
humane, and important thing we could possibly do," Thiel says on SENS'
website. But Thiel, who is worth $2.2 billion, is not the only rich guy on a
quest to encourage scientists to go for broke on delaying death's door.
·
Ray
Kurzweil is the pre-eminent
promoter of this research with access to funding from Google founder Sergey
Brin. As a member of the Alcor Life Extension Foundation, Kurzweil plans to be
perfused with cryoprotectants, vitrified in liquid nitrogen upon his death and
stored at an Alcor facility in the hope that future medical technology will be
able to repair his tissues and revive him, according to a Wired magazine
article from 2002 titled "Ray
Kurzweil's Plan: Never Die."
·
Larry
Ellison, the billionaire
founder of Oracle, has also anted up big bucks. He's worth about $43 billion
and spends millions per year on experimental gene research.
·
Paul
Glenn, a venture capitalist
in Santa Barbara, is bankrolling large endowments that support anti-aging work
with gene therapy involving Harvard and MIT.
·
Dmitry
Itskov, a 32-year-old
multi-millionaire in Russia, has started an initiative to help humans reach
immortality within the next three decades. He has a website with his manifesto
posted at 2045.com. On his website, Itskov features an article on
Aubrey de Grey, who claims to have "drawn a roadmap to defeat biological
aging" and "proposes that the first human beings who will live to
1,000 years old have already been born."
"These are just the
individuals that are publicly known who are into this," McGuire said.
"So you have these billionaires bankrolling it, and you can be darn sure
they are using it.
"Kissinger, Carter
and Rockefeller, you consider their age, and you see them jetting around and
functioning at a high level in their 90s. That tells you between the lines
they're getting something we're not and that, obviously, if you go to your
local HMO you're not going to get it."
At least one techno
entrepreneur has gone public in her use of experimental anti-aging drugs. Elizabeth
Parrish is the 44-year-old CEO of BioViva, a Seattle area biotechnology firm that treats
aging as a "disease" through gene therapy. Projects include therapies
to regenerate muscle and tissue as well as prevent dementia and Alzheimer's
disease.
Parrish decided to experiment
on herself but had to travel outside the country to find a place where it was
legal. She underwent gene therapy at an undisclosed location near Bogota,
Columbia.
"She did it in a
Latin American country and took a lot of criticism from doctors because it's
highly dangerous," McGuire said. "Most of this is being conducted on
mice. She had a filmmaker do a documentary on her experience (as a human guinea
pig)."
Watch video of
entrepreneur Elizabeth Parrish describing her work with experimental anti-aging
treatments:
Another red-hot area of
research that goes hand-in-hand with anti-aging gene therapy is gene splicing
and editing. The U.S. government is funding this research both at the
Department of Defense and at university laboratories, testing it on mice and
other animals.
Basically, it's a method
of altering the DNA code in test-tube babies. "The plan is to alter the
genetics and edit out vulnerabilities to disease, so they're able to create
babies that have longevity. And they're ready to do it on humans," McGuire
said. "This new method of genetic splicing is supposed to come to fruition
this year, the technique is called Crispr-Cas9 gene-splicing technique and it
allows scientists to make designer babies." This could alter how the genes
are passed down to future generations, and critics say problems could occur in
the offspring of these designer babies.
"This technology
has been around since the 1970s, but now it's ready to be employed for the
first time," McGuire said. "The plan is to use it on human children,
and they have investors in companies ready to do this." One such firm is
Editas, a startup at Cambridge, Massachusetts, that investors hope to take
public in the first or second quarter of 2016.
Among the potential
investors hearing pitches for Editas is Bill Gates. Wired
magazine reported on gene splicing last year: Scientists talk about their ability to use this
technique to manipulate the source codes for life. It could "really get
out of hand," writes Wired author Amy Maxmen.
It all started at the
Asilomar Conference in California in 1975. She writes: "Preeminent genetic
researchers like David Baltimore, then at MIT, went to Asilomar to grapple with
the implications of being able to decrypt and reorder genes. It was a God-like
power – to plug genes from one living thing into another. Used wisely, it had
the potential to save millions of lives. But the scientists also knew their
creations might slip out of their control."
Despite his years
closely following the activity of anti-aging science and the big money flowing
to it, McGuire says there is much more that is not known about these secretive
endeavors. "This is all very controversial because of the potential to
create designer babies," he said. "They have cyborg chips where they
can release chemicals and drugs in the body. So all of this is going full speed
ahead, but we are only getting access to the tip of the iceberg.
"With the CRISPR
technology and designer babies, of course the elite, and nations like China,
and I believe secret labs in the U.S., are racing to achieve this technology
because, of course, there is money to be made."
The ugly potential of
science run amok was first realized in Nazi Germany, where Hitler's scientists
worked, in crude fashion by today's standards, to manipulate gene pools.
"In my books, I
talk about the Lebensborn children program in Nazi Germany, where Hitler had
plucked all the young men and women, very healthy, tall, intelligent with light
blue eyes, blond hair, for selective breeding" McGuire said. "That was the early
beginnings of this genetic modification and it already spilled out of control.
So you can imagine what they're doing today. Russia, China, the U.S. all want
super soldiers, and the billionaires all want to live forever."
But don't expect
scientists like Dr. Kim at Stanford to spill the beans on exactly how advanced
their work has evolved. "We have a hidden
tier of our society that is benefiting from this. That's why I laughed when I
heard him say it was 10 years out," McGuire said. "That's a complete
flat-out lie, and he knew it. If he admitted it was already available, the
American people would be screaming for it. "It's the proverbial mirage up
ahead that never materializes. It's always 10 or 15 years down the road, but we
never get there."
A 'Brave New World'?
The theoretical
blueprint for a future society built on a genetically bred caste system may
have been laid back in 1932 by Aldus Huxley in his book, "Brave New
World."
"Huxley mapped this
out," McGuire said. "He envisioned a scientific dictatorship all
built on a caste system, where you have a slave class, a bureaucratic class,
the elites, and you were genetically bred with an IQ sufficient to fulfill your
class duty. The plan is for the elites to receive the enhanced genetic
treatments and the others will die off."
http://www.wnd.com/2016/01/elites-pouring-billions-into-gene-therapy-research/
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