291 | Venki Ramakrishnan on the Biology of Death and Aging

207.642 - 237.083 Sean Carroll

The average human lifespan has absolutely increased, but the maximum human lifespan has not increased very much. People live to be around 120 at most, and that's as true now as it was 100 or 200 years ago. And we think that we understand roughly why that's true. There's a lot going on in our bodies that is not only not meant to let us live forever, but is meant to not let us live forever.