Great Desire for Extended Life and Health amongst the American Public

Front Genet. 2016 Jan 20:6:353. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2015.00353. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

People want to live long, healthy lives. Previous surveys suggest very limited interest in much longer lifespans, but we show that stipulating good health changes responses to favor longer lives by an order of magnitude. Advances in aging research hold out hope for greatly slowed aging with associated good health. Understanding the public's desires correctly is important to avoid misallocation of resources for research.

Keywords: life extension; lifespan; public opinion; public policy; survey research.