Not death, just the diseases of aging (which aren't so different from other diseases in their effects, when it comes down to it).
The general idea is that our bodies accumulate damage as a side product of metabolism (stuff that evolution hasn't equipped us to deal with - various long-lived molecules that we can't break down); over a certain threshold, that damage turns into pathologies. So your skin is less elastic, your arteries aren't as flexible, your immune system doesn't work as well, your brain accumulate beta amyloids that lead to alzheimer's, etc. If we could periodically repair that damage before the pathologies happen, we could potentially keep young bodies indefinitely and cure many diseases without having to understand how metabolism works, thus reducing human suffering tremendously (about 150k deaths each day).
The general idea is that our bodies accumulate damage as a side product of metabolism (stuff that evolution hasn't equipped us to deal with - various long-lived molecules that we can't break down); over a certain threshold, that damage turns into pathologies. So your skin is less elastic, your arteries aren't as flexible, your immune system doesn't work as well, your brain accumulate beta amyloids that lead to alzheimer's, etc. If we could periodically repair that damage before the pathologies happen, we could potentially keep young bodies indefinitely and cure many diseases without having to understand how metabolism works, thus reducing human suffering tremendously (about 150k deaths each day).
For more on this, check out this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Ending-Aging-Rejuvenation-Breakthrough...
Or these presentations:
http://citywire.kuluvalley.com/player.html?pguid=E586AD51-41...
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8554766938711591377&...
Or the work of this foundation (I'm in no way affiliated with them - I'm just a fan and individual donor):
http://www.sens.org