Is it possible to stay alive forever

Even with this data showing that is the ceiling of survival, those who are dedicated to anti-aging and longevity-based research have a goal to work towards.

Can You Live Forever? Jeanne Calment pictured in October Animal bodies and the genes that reside in them are built to procreate, to multiply, to replicate. Evolution will always favour death, because the bodies that hang around too long without making more become grist to the mill — eaten by predators, outmanoeuvred by competitors, riddled with parasites or simply victims of an endless rain of lethal solar radiation. In this way, to a degree, ageing is baked into our DNA.

This evolutionary contract we have with death means that even if we eradicated all human diseases, years into advanced age our bodies would begin to show the same frailty. In fact, a study published in the journal Nature in May confirms it. Could other animals offer some secrets to extended life?

The answer is an assertive yes, according to many scientists. Hydra show that animals do not have to grow old, but that doesn't mean humans could replicate their rejuvenating habits.

Humans have stem cells that can repair and even regrow parts of the body, such as in the liver , but the human body is not made almost entirely of these cells, like hydra are.

That's because humans need cells to do things other than just divide and make new cells. For example, our red blood cells transport oxygen around the body. As the cells age, so do we.

We can't simply discard our old cells like hydra do, because we need them. For example, the neurons in the brain transmit information. However, his gut feeling is that humans will never achieve such biological immortality. And so I think that people survive through their legacy. The oldest-living human on record is Jeanne Calment from France, who died at the age of in , according to Guinness World Records.

In a study published in the journal Nature Communications , researchers reported that humans may be able to live up to a maximum of between and years, after which, the researchers anticipate a complete loss of resilience — the body's ability to recover from things like illness or injury. To live beyond this limit, humans would need to stop cells from aging and prevent disease. Related: What's the oldest living thing alive today?

Humans may be able to live beyond their biological limits with future technological advancements involving nanotechnology. This is the manipulation of materials on a nanoscale, less than nanometers one-billionth of a meter or billionths of an inch.

Machines this small could travel in the blood and possibly prevent aging by repairing the damage cells experience over time. Nanotech could also cure certain diseases, including some types of cancer, by removing cancerous cells from the body, according to the University of Melbourne in Australia.

Preventing the human body from aging still isn't enough to achieve immortality; just ask the hydra. Even though hydra don't show signs of aging, the creatures still die. Humans don't have many predators to contend with, but we are prone to fatal accidents and vulnerable to extreme environmental events, such as those intensified by climate change. We'll need a sturdier vessel than our current bodies to ensure our survival long into the future.