MONTREAL, Feb. 24 /CNW Telbec/ – During BIOMEDEX 2005, the pre-eminent
life science industry conference-exhibition in Canada, BIOQuebec and the
Association of the health technologies industry (AITS) are pleased to present
a debate between two renowned scientists on a hot topic frequently in the
news: Immortality, Utopia or Scientific Reality? The distinguished scholars
Dr. S. Jay Olshansky, a researcher in the School of Public Health at the
University of Illinois in Chicago, and Dr. Aubrey de Grey, a researcher in the
Department of Genetics at the University of Cambridge, will challenge each
other’s thinking on the issue next March 30, at 1:30 pm, at the Fairmont The
Queen Elizabeth Hotel.
The debate will be examining ageing and human mortality, and already
promises to be a lively one. Dr. Aubrey de Grey will be defending the notion
that ageing is a treatable disease and that dramatic increases in life
expectancy are forthcoming, while Dr. Olshansky will be upholding the thesis
that ageing is an inevitable by-product of operating the machinery of life and
that life expectancy could begin to decline in the next few decades.
“We are very proud to have been able to bring these two internationally
renowned personalities together to address the numerous research and
investment initiatives currently being devoted to techniques for holding back,
indeed for stopping, the ageing process. This debate is likely to raise a
certain amount of controversy, because it touches notably upon the ethics and
future of the life sciences”, states Perry Niro, Executive Director of
BIOQuebec.
