I remember reading about that somewhere not too long ago (or it might have been in an episode of Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman come to think of it.) Most of that's over my head anyway.

Would it be incorrect to posit that to a large degree we still have this illusion that there's a separation between our sense of self and the chemical and organic processes behind it? We have a physical brain, chemical reactions, etc. We have a sense of a "mind" that is separate from the body, but science isn't showing us what we feel is intuitive.

Yes, that is correct. We have a strong illusion of free will or agency of our actions and many people still believe in dualism even though it can be shown to be incorrect. If mind is seperate from matter, then how does it interact with the body? How would medicine and drugs and even things like sleepiness so profoundly affect consciousness? We all know that actions taken when drunk, sleepy, horny or hungry might not be the same actions we would take when in a more clear state of mind.

I always say that in the end it doesn't really matter if we have free will or not, as long as we act like we do there isn't any real substantive difference. We can't simply go around saying that no-one is responsible for their actions even though people may have little control over them. Society would collapse. So for the good of us all living together it is perhaps best to just act like we have free will.

It's an easy answer, but we are not allowed to discuss it.

As someone with an interest in psychology, I tend to read a lot about the brain when I see it, and the general gist I have gotten is that we are pretty much to the point where we can safely say that it is all in the brain. No, not everything is mapped out and described yet, but it seems to be mostly a matter of time now. This is, of course, going to be very hard for people to accept, and I have no doubt many will flat-out refuse to accept it, but there it is.

No they mustn't. We already know why we age and die:

1. Telomeres decay on DNA -> DNA breaks down -> Too many bad mutations in cells -> we die.

2. Oxidation

1 can be fixed with certain chemicals (at the risk of causing cancer), or (maybe?) by genetic manipulation.

2 can be fixed by artificial organ growth and replacement.

If you don't age, then you could theoretically live forever if you protected yourself well enough. Not that you'd want to.

All beginnings have an end. I need such a procedure to be perfected.

It doesn't exist yet, so don't hold your breath. We only recently managed to grow something more complex than an ear (a pair of lungs), and I don't know if they worked.