NotNormativelyHuman 241
olderAmericans,eventhosewithmoremoderate,middle-classincomes
(Hayden305).Morethan500companiesarealreadyinthemarket.
One of the modifications already available now is an "anti-aging"
procedure based on a gene called MGF (Mechano-growth factor). This
gene regulates a naturally occurring hormone produced after exercise
that stimulates muscle production. Levels of MGF fall as people age.
MGF-treatmenttobuildupmuscleswouldallowolderpeopletoremain
able-bodiedandindependentmuchlonger.IGFI-1Ec,derivedfromgene
splicing, has produced increased muscle mass in laboratory mice.
Theoretically, gene insertion of IGF-1 could produce an equally
impressiveeffectinhumans.AsGeoffreyGoldspink,reviewingrelevant
research argues, "when administered MGF activates the muscle satellite
(stem)cellsthat'kickstart'localmusclerepairandinduceshypertrophy"
(1). Goldspink also mentions that MGF is already available on the
internet and "used by body-builders and doping" (9). IGF-1, another
muscle-building hormone, has produced increased muscle mass in
laboratory mice. Proponents argue that insertion of IGF-1 into aging
bodiescouldproduceanequallyimpressiveeffectinhumans(Conn69-
71).
Whatever the actual effects of this or other anti-aging interventions,
thecontoursofatechno-scientificutopiainwhichhumansmayoneday
be able even to preempt the aging process^78 are looming large. What is
happening right now and likely to happen even more intensely in the
future are biotech-resourced projects directed at meliorating, even
optimizing, the "aging" body's physical function and status with the
perspectiveofcreatingabodythatis"betterthanwell"or"youngerthan
young."AsAdeleClarkeandcolleaguesargue,
Technoscientific innovations are pushing when old age is believed to
begin further into a receding future. Late life is transformed into a
mutableandreversiblestate...Atthesametime,throughadiscourseof
health and risk, old age per se is biomedicalized... aging patients(^78) My use of the term preemption is intentional: it refers to the eminently
politicalgestureoferadicatingthebiologicalcausesofagingbeforetheyhavea
chance of manifesting themselves. For details cf. Kunow, "'Womb to Tomb,'"
esp.84-86.