"Red Dragon"  wrote in message.
>
> Is there such thing as a gene responsible for the aging process?  Is it
> true that such a gene can be modified or manipulated to extend a life
> span?  Is there a possibility that in the distant future,  immortality in
man
> can be achieved?
>
There are two major reasons why organisms age.

The first is that most organisms can't expect to survive for many mating
seasons. A gene that gives you 10 eggs in the first year at the cost of none
in the second year is to be preferred to on that gives you five eggs now and
10 in the second year.

Another reason is that cancer is a persistent threat. Somehow cells have to
be prevented from multiplying in an uncontrolled fashion. One mechanism for
this is to limit the total number of divisions a non-germ cell is allowed,
so tumors don't get indefinitely big. A sdie effect is that this puts an age
limit on the organism.

The problems in extending the lifespan of humans via genetic engineering are
formidable, but seem to be purely technical. There's no reason that humans
couldn't live for thousands of years. It wouldn't of course be immortality -
there would still be accidents and other causes of death.
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