Feature: Why are we so obsessed with getting old?

Money can buy a lot of things, but it can't stop us from getting older. And yet many of the world's wealthiest people are betting that it can. Billionaires are pouring fortunes into longevity research, while a booming anti-ageing industry promises to slow, stop or even reverse the ageing process. But Dr Seamus O'Mahony thinks we're being sold a fantasy, the idea that old age is a disease and death a problem medicine can eventually solve. A retired Irish gastroenterologist and clinical professor, he argues that the science has been oversold and the quest for immortality distracts us from accepting the realities of being human. His new book is The Longevity Delusion: Money, Myths and Bad Science.