Tapping Into the Code of Life With Science

— -- In the 20th century, human life expectancy grew by 30 years, according to scientists.

That's the biggest life span boost, greater than in the previous 5,000 years combined. In part we have medical breakthroughs like penicillin and vaccines to thank. Another huge factor is that childbirth became much safer.

Robert Lanza, the chief scientific officer of Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, Mass., believes further advancements in health and science will continue that pattern through the 21st century and beyond.

"We're really on the beginning of a new medical revolution. I think with new technologies -- going in and using the stem cells that we were starting to develop -- you could prolong lives to several hundred years," said Lanza.

Lanza is one of the world's top cloning specialists and the first to clone endangered animals. He copied a gaur and a banteng -- both breeds of rare oxen -- obtaining their DNA from body parts that had been frozen for 20 years. After cloning herds of cows and comparing their DNA, Lanza studied their telomeres, a vital component to understanding aging in all living things.

"Telomeres are the body's aging clock," said Lanza. "The genetic makeup in our body consists basically of strands of DNA. Sort of like a shoestring. And at the end of these strands of DNA, there are these caps, the telomeres. So the telomeres get shorter and shorter every time the cell divides, until they get to a critical shortness, and the cell becomes old and decrepit and it dies."

He discovered the telomeres of the cows he cloned were longer than their biological parents' -- helping those cells live 50 percent longer. That meant they could live to be the oldest herd of cows on the planet. If this were applied to humans, we could potentially live to 180.

Lanza has no plans to try cloning entire human beings, but the discovery is an important piece of the puzzle of why our cells age.

"There's a consensus in the scientific community that it's wrong and scientifically unsafe to use this technology for reproductive purposes. Our goal is to basically clone cells in a petri dish so that we can create replacement parts for the body, to repair damaged tissue."