Underpopulation problems and the aging crisis

Raiany Romanni, MBE, MA, an alumna of the Master of Science in Bioethics degree program, explores the effects of our changing demographics and offers responses to the ethical implications of age-reversing therapies in a recent article for The Boston Globe. Speaking on the issue more broadly, Raiany says,

"I believe strongly that aging is our century's most pressing socio-economic problem. By 2029, the US will spend half its entire federal budget ($3T/y) on retroactive measures like Alzheimer's care and retirement pensions. Today, some 50M Americans—predominantly women—are unpaid caretakers of older adults, at a $500B/y opportunity cost. Research into the biology of aging has the potential to remedy this crisis, but the idea of age reversal lacks the support of low-income populations, who comprise most of the electoral voice (and therefore largely dictate NIH budgets and FDA regulations). I feel my role as a bioethicist is not just to write academic papers on this subject, but also to bridge the gap between the science and the general public. Vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected by the diseases of aging, and lack the tools to appreciate the far-reaching effects of our changing demographics."

Raiany's work rests at the intersection of policy, philosophy, and ethics. She is currently working as a Consultant for the XPRIZE Foundation, and devotes much of her time to speaking with people who are not familiar with the aging field. Her work has previously appeared in The Washington Post, Forbes, The Hill, Quillette, and ABC, and she welcomes email inquiries to discuss the ethical permissibility of aging research or other emerging biotechnologies.

The Boston Globe