David McCarthy, an assistant professor with the Risk Management and Insurance Program in the Terry College of Business, recently spoke with Yahoo about increasing human lifespans
McCarthy created a model that projects how the maximum human lifespan will extend in the future. He estimates that it is likely there is one person born in Britain in the 1940s who will live beyond the 122 years of age that marks the currently known oldest person ever.
“Our data show that the longest lived U.K. female born in 1940 could live until between 120 and 128, and it is roughly the same for men,” he said.
McCarthy added that 115 years old is the point where a person has a 50-50 likelihood of surviving another year.
His data also reveals that it is plausible, according to his model, that a man born in 1970 may live until 141. For a woman, this is expected to be up to a maximum of 131.
“If the model is correct, and the environment continues to be supportive of the extreme longevity of older people, then it looks likely that someone in the U.K. born in 1940 will live longer than 120,” he said.
