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Nowadays many people say

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we may live to over 100,

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and some scientists think 150 or more.

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How do you see it?

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getting them to live to 150 or 180,

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in scientific terms, that's possible.

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But the biggest ethical issue is:

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if they can have children, that's trouble.

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Once the modified genes enter the human genome,

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No longer certain.

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In five hundred years, it may

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no longer be today's human genome.

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I came over from mainland China.

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At 38, I became

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a full professor of immunology in China, and I spent

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three years as a master's supervisor.

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Then in 2004, I came to Canada,

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starting out as a student.

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Step by step, I worked my way up.

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and then founded my own platforms.

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In my view, fundamentally, this comes down to

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just two things: one is genetic factors,

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the other is environmental factors. Genetic factors:

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the genes your parents gave you set limits.

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We call that genetic limitation.

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Say the genes

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your parents gave you

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only allow you to live to 90.

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Then, through acquired means,

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without changing the genes, through natural means,

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extending your lifespan is, most likely, impossible.

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That's the genetic factor.

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Genetic factors take up such a big share?

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Genetic factors don't account for much.

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They make up roughly 5% to 8%.

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Some scientists say around 10% to 12%.

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So most of it still lies with environmental factors.

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Environmental factors include your own...

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Environmental factors include your daily routine,

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eating habits, work stress,

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and so on. Basically, everything

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you come into contact with after you enter society

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counts as an environmental factor. Just these two factors.

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The HESCA Anti-Aging Center

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focuses on just one thing: anti-aging.

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And anti-aging comes in two kinds:

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one is

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physiological anti-aging,

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the other is pathological anti-aging.

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The highest ideal for people is to pass away without disease.

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If someone is always in

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a sub-health state, that also speeds up

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their pace toward that disease-free end. We slow that pace down a little.

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As for physiological aging,

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physiological anti-aging: when someone is ill, their

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pace toward death is faster.

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Our goal is to slow it down a bit,

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to slow it down with a high quality of life.

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I don't know if you've heard of

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a term called epigenetics.

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As opposed to another kind of genetics,

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called classical (Mendelian) genetics. Classical genetics

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is the genetics from Mom and Dad,

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formed by the sperm and egg they give.

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That's classical genetics. It's innate.

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The acquired kind is epigenetics.

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Meaning what? You use acquired

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environmental factors to intervene,

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without touching the diseased genes, and coexist with them.

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Say, you've heard of people who got cancer in their 30s

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and still lived to over 100.

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How did they do it? By relying on

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epigenetics, on acquired genetics,

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on acquired environmental factors to intervene,

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not touching the disease-causing genes, living alongside them,

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and they can still live a long time.

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In the most cutting-edge tech fields,

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which areas do you think

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scientists are researching now?

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In the area of genes.

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Genes.

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Gene editing.

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Because our research today

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only targets certain diseases.

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Say, in some diseases certain genes are missing,

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or certain genes have problems, so you modify them.

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With a molecular biology method,

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you modify it: knock it out, or alter it,

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add something, take something away, add a certain chemical group,

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or remove a group.

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It's a molecular biology technique.

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Now the key, the biggest problem, is this:

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Studying an individual is no problem.

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Purely doing research on that one person,

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getting them to live to 150 or 180,

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in scientific terms, that's possible.

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But the biggest ethical issue is:

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if they can have children, that's trouble.

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Once the modified genes enter the human genome,

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No longer certain.

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In five hundred years, it may

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no longer be today's human genome.

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It's like 60 years ago, when tetracycline was discovered.

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At the time, the whole world rejoiced.

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But some years later,

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many people turned up with black teeth.

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That was humanity...

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Teeth blackened by tetracycline, right.

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Tetracycline-stained teeth. Humans

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harmed themselves. At the time it seemed fine.

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Now I take that same idea

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and apply it to today's gene modification.

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It's the same here.

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We must weigh the ethical issue.

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I'm fairly conservative, fairly reserved

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about gene modification. Of course, I'm not against it.

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You can modify genes to treat disease. But because

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technology has to advance...

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Technology has to advance. You can modify,

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and do it to treat disease. No problem.

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But as for the social problems

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that follow, how do we solve them?

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That's for sociologists to consider.

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What people really hope for now

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is how, in this environment, to extend

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their lifespan and live longer,

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living happier and healthier lives.