The novel "Mysterium" by Tal Rashef examines the dream of eternal life with a controlled view from the eyes of someone who lives it in everyday life without dreams and illusions, who searches for the explanation for his special situation, discovers the scientific background for this and raises philosophical questions arising from this, such as what can really be known, And why we want to know.
To live forever and not grow old, is probably one of the oldest dreams of the human race, like the other dreams: to fly like birds and move through time. The research of the last few years indicates the possibility that in a few years it may come true.
Over the years we have believed that aging is the result of wear and tear of the body due to an encounter with external damage factors such as smoking, alcohol, solar radiation and free radicals. Further down the road, scientific research revealed to us that this is not the only reason and that in fact there is an internal mechanism within the body that is not related to these external factors, the telomeres.
They were defined as "the link at the end of the string", the last parts in the chain that makes up the human chromosome, which may wear out every time a cell divides or regenerates and creates a new cell in its place. This cell is supposed to contain the same genetic cargo as the one that created it, but in fact, telomeres at the ends of the chromosome often wear out, they do not appear in the newly created DNA and the result is erosion, change and aging.
Today we are already in the third stage of the development of the research. Recent studies indicate that in fact aging is not only a consequence of things that "happen" to our body and the chromosome that shapes it, but that it actually has parts that are actively responsible for creating the aging process, and at the center of them is the part called Lamin A which is, if you will, the master controller of the process Aging in our bodies.
What would happen if we could make proactive changes to this baggage that is now visible to us and mappable? Theoretically, we can already think of a situation where we will neutralize the action of that part and stop large parts of the aging process.
The book "Mysterium" revolves around this possibility, which was recently published by the "Shades" publishing house. It is a wide-ranging novel that describes the life of Itamar Koren, a man who never ages. He is more than 200 years old, born during the French Revolution, fought in the ranks of Napoleon's army and discovered somewhere along the way that he does not age and he actually remains 25 years old, at least according to his appearance.
Is this the fulfillment of an ancient human dream? Itamar discovers that people suspect him due to the gap between his listed age and his appearance, that he may get into trouble with police investigators, that researchers in biotech laboratories will want to know his secret in order to produce an anti-aging medicine for humanity on this basis, that investors will find interest in it, and that he He will look at all this from the loneliness of a man who has already fulfilled his dreams, that there is no one in the world with whom he can share his memories and his world, and he is afraid of falling in love and tying his life to the life of a woman who will grow old in time when he remains in the same body.
The novel "Mysterium" examines the dream of eternal life with a controlled view from the eyes of someone who lives it in everyday life without dreams and illusions, who searches for the explanation for his special situation, discovers the scientific background for this and raises philosophical questions arising from this, such as what can really be known, and why do we want to know.
The book can be purchased, as of mid-September, on the website of the "Shades" publishing house, at Tzomat Sharif branches and soon also at Stimatsky branches, and of course from the author.
Tal Reshef - the author of the book "Mysterium", an intercultural business consultant for technology companies operating in the world markets and a lecturer on culture and history
- The link to The book page on the author's website
- The book page in the publisher, including the option of ordering copies
- Interview in "The New Evening" with the author of the book
More of the topic in Hayadan:
