Pessimists Debate Aging Science
Harry Moody and Arthur Caplan will debate whether aging should be viewed as a disease at SAGE Crossroads, an issue crucial to large scale funding and research strategies. I am sympathetic to the theory of aging as undiagnosed disease - most degenerative conditions were once seen as "a part of normal aging," after all. Moody and Caplan occupy very conservative positions in biogerontology; neither believes that near term healthy life extension is possible, so they do not advocate research funding for the fight against aging. This is a part of the self-defeating cycle described by Aubrey de Grey.
Link: http://www.sagecrossroads.com/public/news/stories/index.cfm?story=045