Thanks to antiaging research, it is quite possible that in the very near future, humans will be living healthy lives well into their hundreds and beyond.
Given the option, would you want to live to 200 years old? The question may seem academic, but according to antiaging researchers, such a goal may be a reality sooner than you think!
And it’s not just what is going on in the research labs. A group of self-styled “biohackers” is already using some radical techniques that they believe can extend their lifespan. Indeed, ambitious biohackers like the term’s originator Dave Asprey are using extreme treatments like stem cell therapy in the hope of doubling their life expectancy. Longevity gurus such as Dmitry Kaminskiy say that the technology to achieve radical life extension is far from being a fairy tale; it’s “either already here or very close to being here.”
Right now, the quest for long life is the pursuit of the hyper-wealthy, and many biohacks remain scientifically suspect. However, recent technological advancements could see radical longevity spill over into the mainstream, and governments are taking note.
Kaminskiy, a UK-based Moldovan multimillionaire, runs a host of investment funds and analytics firms focused on longevity exploration and considers many biohacks – and the goal of adding 50 years to average human lifespan – perfectly valid, to the point that he dabbles himself.
“I don’t have any doubts that I will reach 123 years old,” he says, seeing no reason why, if new antiaging technologies are taken advantage of, others shouldn’t either. To this end, and with the aim of promoting healthy longevity, he has even promised to give $1 million to the first man or woman to outlive the world’s oldest person on record – Jeanne Calment, who died aged 122.
As for the goal of living beyond 180, Kaminskiy thinks that in five years, “we will be able to provide more tangible forecasting. There’s not enough data yet.” But he says with the information we have now, living to 123 “is absolutely realistic.”
However, while many of these life-extending “biohacks” like hyperbaric oxygen treatments and “electromagnetic blocking underwear” are dubious at best or dangerous at worst, there is some serious research into longevity being done in labs across the globe, and some are worth noticing.
“Young Blood Plasma”
One such promising area of research involves the use of “young blood” plasma. A paper was just recently published by one such team of researchers that we’re able to use blood plasma to “significantly” increase the lifespan of rats.
The paper’s authors include recognized and respected academics in the field of longevity, such as UCLA’s Steve Horvath and Harold Katcher from the University of Maryland. The study involved the use of a “young blood plasma” treatment known as “Elixir.”
Katcher is a well-known and respected scientist. In fact, he led the team that discovered the breast cancer gene, brca1. He is also co-founder of Eugenics Research, an India-based start-up created to commercialize Elixir for human use.
Speaking to Longevity Today about the results of their trial Katcher said that, following treatment with Elixir, the “two-year-old rats showed the characteristics of rats half their age, by all the age-related traits we could measure (and we used more than 30 different assays), but it was Steven Horvath’s DNAm clock that was the most significant to us, as it is often considered the ‘gold standard’ of age-determination. It meant that these observed changes in apparent age reflected changes occurring deep within the organism’s cells.”
The researchers also claimed that the appearance of animals of both sexes were better in the treated group, with glossier and thicker fur apparently being observed. In addition to increased longevity, the researchers claimed that the treated mice also had increased grip strength and were better able to escape from a Barnes maze test.
There has been considerable debate recently about whether experiments like this work by restoring lost beneficial factors in aged blood or by reducing harmful factors. If the study results here are to be believed, then it suggests that “something” in fresh “young blood” is able to increase lifespan in mice.
