The oldest person who has ever lived and whose age was authenticated was Jeanne-Louise Calment. She was born in France in February 21, 1875 and lived 122 years and 164 days. She died in 1997. To some extent, this limit is probably imposed by genetics; medical technology can only go so far. By imposing selection (a natural process by which any creature survives to another) and thus causing evolution, humans could conceivably become immortal, but that is only by evolving.