The longevity boom is getting ahead of the science

Basal human desires never change: to be positively unique, sexually desired, to live in luxury, to be popular, to hold power, and finally, to achieve immortality. The idea of eternal life can be found in almost every religious text, and even the world’s oldest surviving literary epic, the Epic of Gilgamesh, contains poems detailing Gilgamesh’s search for immortality after confronting the inevitability of death following the loss of his companion, Enkidu. Nearly 4,000 years later, a hot microphone caught the presidents of Russia and China discussing whether advances in medicine and biotechnology might finally bring humanity closer to that ancient ambition.

During the exchange, Russia’s Vladimir Putin spoke about advances in organ transplantation, while China’s Xi Jinping seemed cautiously optimistic, citing predictions that humans would be able to live up to 150 years of age this century. Russia has reportedly directed billions of dollars’ worth of funding towards organ transplantation research and regenerative medicine.

In an era where genetic engineering and biological manipulation are possible, where actual artificial intelligence exists and space travel is a reality, how close are we to extending the human lifespan, and what is the science behind it?

Enter longevity biotechnology

Unlike traditional pharmaceutical research, which historically focused on designing chemicals that interact with biological targets, biotechnology uses biological systems themselves to tackle various problems, including medical treatments. Over the years, biotechnology has become integral to healthcare, with the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda, one of the world’s best-selling drugs, as an example of its success. More recently, a subfield called longevity biotechnology has become incredibly fashionable. The aim is simple, even if the mission is not: to treat the underlying biological mechanisms of age-related diseases, resulting in increased healthspan (the period of life spent in good health) or lifespan (the period of time one is alive).

The idea of treating ageing or age-related illnesses is nothing new. The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, is said to have died from suspected mercury poisoning in his search for the elixir of immortality. Skip ahead to the 1920s, when Alexander Bogdanov pioneered blood transfusions from the young to the old as a method to slow the ageing process (there is little proof that it worked). Numerous books and journals have since been published on tackling the ageing process in various ways, and companies have been founded to do the same. Yet, in recent years, investment in longevity biotech has skyrocketed. A recent Forbes article called it the billionaire’s next big bet after artificial intelligence. In the first quarter of 2026 alone, longevity biotech companies raised approximately $3.74bn. There are now academic journals dedicated to ageing and longevity. Pharmaceutical companies are eager to see clinical trial results on longevity treatments.

So, what has changed in the field to cause this hype?

Discovering the hallmarks of ageing

In academic talks, the typical longevity speaker would ask the audience, “What is the commonality between a bowhead whale and a naked mole rat?” Both have very long lifespans and are remarkably resistant to cancer. Comparing long-lived organisms with short-lived ones, and young members of the same species with old ones, lies at the heart of modern longevity research.

At the cellular and molecular levels, scientists now understand ageing within the context of twelve interconnected processes, collectively called the hallmarks of ageing. These include factors like genomic instability and chronic inflammation. Researchers have identified numerous genes that regulate such processes. Manipulating them in animal models has improved measures of health and function in older animals. In some cases, it has also significantly extended lifespan. Repeated findings across different research groups and animal models have started to convince many investors and scientists that we might be on the cusp of something truly remarkable.

AI and obesity drugs: Success fuels excitement for the next breakthrough

Tackling ageing is a grand undertaking, one that would have been predicted to take decades of scientific research and billions in funding. Grand challenges like this tend to come with cautious investment in companies attempting to solve them. Big, tough problems will require either a fantastic team of scientists or solid science that has been validated through and through. Those do not come easily. Yet, investments are currently overflowing into young longevity companies all over the world.

This has something to do with the recent boom in the AI industry in general, and the fantastic financial success of obesity drugs in the pharmaceutical world. There is a certain feeling that we are getting closer to breakthroughs in biology. Ageing is something that is literally experienced by every human being, and we are in an era where ageing populations are predicted to become larger burdens on their economies. There is no better market than this. If a breakthrough happens in the treatment of ageing, the profits will be more than enormous, and investors want to be there when it happens.

The case of obesity drugs, in particular, is quite relevant here. Obesity is a complex, multifactorial disease. It is linked to genetic and environmental factors, living standards, socioeconomic class, etc. Though obesity medicines have existed for a while, their effectiveness was generally modest and came with significant limitations. The general impression was that there were no shortcuts when it came to treating it at the population level. The introduction of highly effective obesity drugs today has changed the game. They are among the top 10 best-selling drugs in the world, and they work surprisingly well.

If scientists are able to solve something as complex as obesity today, what is to say they cannot solve ageing tomorrow?

Between realism and optimism

Unlike obesity, ageing is a biological reality that most living organisms experience. That is to say, it is baked into our living systems. Attempting to treat or manipulate something this ubiquitous will almost always have side effects, likely big ones.

As clinical trials are still in their early stages, we do not know what those side effects are yet. It is going to take years, likely decades, before we truly know whether any longevity biotech approaches can meaningfully extend human healthspan or lifespan. Part of the reason for that is the fact that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not currently view ageing itself as a disease target. This means that biotech companies will need to demonstrate benefits against specific diseases or measurable aspects of health.

At the theoretical level, there are also roadblocks. One branch of longevity biotech, for instance, is attempting to manipulate the process of DNA repair. Human DNA gets damaged every day; our cells are experts at repairing it but become less effective in old age. Manipulating DNA damage repair could pave the way for longevity therapies. However, this understates how complex the process is and how it could impact different cells in the body. Antibody-producing cells (known as B cells), for example, deliberately introduce mutations into their DNA in order to produce effective antibodies. If DNA-repair longevity therapies result in B cells having a reduced capacity to do that, there is no telling how it would affect the patient’s immune system.

Decades of clinical research have taught us that manipulating one aspect of our body will have an undesirable side effect in another part of it. Antibiotics alter our microbiome and select for antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Chemotherapy also kills many healthy fast-dividing cells in the body.

Perhaps we will truly be able to treat ageing someday, but it will not be anytime soon. More importantly, it may come at the cost of disrupting other essential biological processes. Living systems have spent billions of years balancing ageing, immunity, reproduction, growth and maintenance. Those wishing to treat ageing will have to fine-tune it in a way that does not disrupt that balance too much.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Source: www.aljazeera.com