Why We Die

The groundbreaking must-read exploration of longevity from Nobel Prize-winning biologist Venki Ramakrishnan

By: Venki Ramakrishnan

Narrated by: John Moraitis

The unmissable account of how science can help us live better and longer - loved by Bill Bryson, Stephen Fry, Siddhartha Mukherjee and more

'Changed my perspective on the whole living world' - Chris Van Tulleken

We are living through an exciting revolution in biology. Giant strides are being made in our understanding of why we age, and why some species live longer than others. Will we soon be able to cheat disease and death and live for a very long time, possibly many times our current lifespan?

Why We Die shares the latest scientific understanding of what causes ageing and how we might prevent it. Ramakrishnan examines the cutting-edge efforts to extend the human lifespan by altering our natural biology, raising profound questions and unravelling mind-bending answers along the way. Does death serve a necessary biological purpose? What will it mean for us all if some people start living longer? And how can we increase our chances of living long, healthy and fulfilled lives?

'Enthralling and packed with insights' - BILL BRYSON
'A must-read' - STEPHEN FRY
'Spectacular' - CHRIS VAN TULLEKEN
'An incredible journey' - SIDDHARTHA MUKHERJEE
'Joyfully alive' - STEVE BRUSATTE
'Scientists do not come much more eminent than Venki Ramakrishnan... wonderfully readable... fascinating.' FINANCIAL TIMES

*As heard on BBC Radio 4 Start the Week*

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE
A SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW SCIENTIST BOOK OF THE YEAR AND A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST READ©2024 Venki Ramakrishnan

Critic reviews

'I have so enjoyed reading this spectacular book - it's full of hope and fun and extraordinary research. It beautifully answers the question at the core of every life. Understanding why we must die helps us understand how we must live. It changed my perspective on the whole living world but most of all myself and the time I have left.' (Chris van Tulleken, bestselling author of Ultra-Processed People)

'Utterly fascinating. Venki Ramakrishnan's ability to take the most challenging subjects and make them clear, enthralling and packed with insights fills me with awe.' (Bill Bryson)

This riveting and revealing book is for all of us who wonder whether ageing and mortality are the next frontiers for human science to cross. Has the first person destined to live of two hundred already been born? Can we really extend our longevity further and further until ... until what? Immortality? Why We Die takes us on a thrilling ride through the science of ageing and death. Meet naked mole rats, lugworms, budding yeast and creepy human charlatans on the way. Venki Ramakrishnan, a Nobel laureate at the very cutting edge of molecular biology has an extraordinary gift for explaining the science behind ageing and death with clarity, wit and enviably entertaining narrative flair. A must read. (Stephen Fry)

"Combines science, politics, memoir and medicine with ease, grace and lucidity. An incredible journey.' (Siddhartha Mukherjee)

'For a book about death, Venki Ramakrishnan's Why We Die is joyfully alive. The story he tells is one of aging and death, but along the way he covers a huge range of biology, evolution, genetics, chemistry, and medicine. This is science writing at its finest: readable, authoritative, and impactful.'

Why We Die is a crisply written, captivating and clear-eyed view of death, and how to defeat it. From research on starvation diets, young blood and cryonics to the longevity of naked mole rats, Nobelist Venki Ramakrishnan introduces us to a cast of extraordinary characters in his quest to fathom how elastic lifespan could prove to be. I believe Why We Die will be his enduring legacy yet, deep down, suspect most of us would still rather achieve immortality through not dying.

The conquest of premature death has been remarkably successful in the past century. Can we go one better and extend life? This erudite, nuanced and insightful book tells a rich tale of discovery about why we age and die, skewers some charlatans along the way and offers just a glimmer of hope about immortality.

"Why We Die brilliantly captures the essentials of our current understanding of the aging process. This is an enjoyable romp through molecular and cell biology - and thought-provoking about ethical issues."

Lots to admire, but some big blind spots

There's lots to admire in the new book "Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality" by distinguished scientist Venki Ramakrishnan (Nobel prize winner and former President of the Royal Society). But it falls short in some key aspects too.

First, the good points. It is clearly written, and easy to follow. It provides an excellent survey of ideas about the science of aging, including lots of recent research. It filled in parts of my understanding which were rusty or incomplete.

The science is interspersed with potted biographies of some of the people within the longevity research community. They're entertaining but not always directly relevant. They're also questionable in places (like getting the biblical age of Methuselah wrong by over 100 years).

Unfortunately, he fails to properly engage with the damage repair approach of Aubrey de Grey, and uncritically repeats some rather old objections to it. That approach points out that much of the huge complexity of biological metabolism can be side-lined. You don't need to alter these complex biological metabolisms to prevent them from creating that damage. Instead, it's much simpler (though still hard, of course) to design interventions that periodically remove or repair that damage. It's a pity this approach wasn't addressed fairly, and that the book chose to laugh at the idea.

Moreover, whereas Ramakrishnan is sure-footed with his explanations of biology and chemistry, he is out of his depth in his comments about transhumanism. The description he provides of transhumanism is far too narrow.

The reason that's important is because the transhumanist literature contains extensive discussion of topics that he says no-one has thought hard about, namely the broader societal implications of people around the world living longer healthier lives.

For example, a significant part of my own 2016 book "The Abolition of Aging" addresses these questions, and I'm far from being the only person to have written about these topics at such length.

Another person with important insights (and data!) about the implications of longer lives is Andrew Scott, whose book "The Longevity Imperative" appeared just a few days before the one by Ramakrishnan. It contains extensive economic analysis.

I'll end with another positive comment. Ramakrishnan points to various problematic aspects of the broader community that is sometimes uncritically over-enthusiastic about biorejuvenation treatments. Alas, that "longevity shadow" (my term) is pushing potential allies away.