THE 300: WORKING TO EXTEND HEALTHY HUMAN LIFE!

There is no gift more precious than life. Every one of us has experienced the joy and contentment of a day spent with our loved ones, or the satisfaction of a day’s work well done. Every one of us has delighted in the earth’s natural beauty, and in the simple pleasures of the five human senses. We all know that life is too beautiful to lose. There is nothing more unbearable than the slow grind of aging — the pain and indignity it causes, and the grief and heartbreak of losing a loved one before their time.

What would it be worth to you to live 120 healthy years?

The mission of the Methuselah Foundation is simple: to promote research that will extend the healthy human lifespan, or, at the very least, will allow us to live the duration of a normal lifespan in good health. Currently, nine teams of scientists are working on the problem, and every one of them believes that the near future promises interventions that will extend both the quality and quantity of human life. You can play a part in one of the greatest endeavors in human history. The Methuselah Foundation is looking for a few special individuals and organizations to make a meaningful, but affordable commitment: $1,000 a year for 25 years, which amounts to $85 a month. For most charities, it makes sense to donate one’s wealth later in life or after death, when your financial resources would allow you to donate a large sum all at once. In the case of the Methuselah Foundation’s fight to end aging, however, it is essential to donate modest sums as early as possible.

Make no mistake: this is an urgent task.

Between 1955 and 1982, scientists identified the "seven deadly things" that account for all the symptoms of aging. These seven are cell loss/cell atrophy, nuclear mutations (cancer), mutant mitochondria, death resistant cells, extracellular crosslinks, extra cellular junk and intracellular junk. These seven major categories have remained virtually unchanged for over 25 years! The fact is that we know what causes aging, and now, we have viable strategies to fight back! Every minute of every day people are suffering the consequences of age-related disease. Ill-health, loss of function and shortened lifespan inflicted by the aging process are likely affecting someone who you love and care about. Until we win this battle, this sad state will continue, eventually affecting us, our children, our grandchildren… Many of us have questioned why, when life is so precious, we must lose our loved ones to aging, why we must suffer the pains of aging and then death, and why we can’t at least maintain our good health during the years we do have. Where there was no real answer to these questions before, the truth is that now we have the opportunity to defeat aging. At no other time in human history has there been the possibility of a real science-based alternative to aging. Today, scientists are close to knowing the causes of aging. They are on the verge of knowing how to stop these causes before they begin to do damage, and, even more importantly, how to reverse them—that is, how to lengthen life by extending people's best years, not their declining ones. By joining the fight against aging at this particular point in history, you will be honoring and memorializing all those who have already passed on, all those who have suffered at the hands of aging. You will also be extending an invaluable legacy to future generations.

There is no better gift.

There is no better gift than a long, productive life, completely free of the crippling effects of aging. This is the inheritance you will pass on to your children, your grandchildren…your great-great-great grandchildren! By making a contribution to the humanitarian cause of defeating the diseases of aging, you have the ability to enhance the lives of countless generations to come. You also have the ability to enhance human society, to create new scientific opportunities for both current and future generations. The personal and financial costs of age-related suffering are incalculable; doing away with these costs will free up many of our precious resources, allowing us to put them to better use. Help us leave this immense gift to future generations! To achieve the Methuselah Foundation’s mission will mean that we live out our wisest years more vibrantly. We will extend our lives so that we will be able to learn, see and do much more. It will mean that we possess the physical health and wellbeing to appreciate every moment of our lives and drink in every blessing that life has to offer. We will see not only our children, but our children’s children grow up, go to school, marry and start their own families, have careers, and follow their dreams, whatever they may be.

This is the stuff of LEGENDS!

In 480 B.C., 300 Spartan warriors fought the battle of Thermopylae, against incredible odds so that the rest of Greece could survive. The names of the 300 Spartans who died at Thermopylae were engraved on a stone tablet in Sparta that was still legible seven centuries after the event, and to this day a monument stands to pay homage to their sacrifice. The Methuselah Foundation is asking you to follow in the footsteps of this noble 300 — not to risk your lives, but to provide some of your treasure, so that others may live…and live…and live, so that the human species can beat back not just an army, but the devastation of aging itself. This special group of donors will live on in history just as the original 300 have, even to this day. You can be one of them. For yourself, for your family’s future generations, for the world, this is the best investment you could ever hope to make.