Executive summary
For centuries, humans have accepted the ageing process as an inevitable fact of life. But what if that assumption was wrong? Scientists are now uncovering the secrets behind the complex processes our bodies experience as they age, offering hope that we may soon be able to slow down, halt, or even reverse the ageing process.
- Instead of treating individual diseases, researchers are turning their attention to ageing itself as the root cause of many health problems.
- “Modern medicine has almost exclusively focused on treating disease rather than preventing it. This has a major drawback: Although people live longer, they tend to spend that additional time suffering from disease,” says Ed Stanley, head of thematic research at Morgan Stanley.
- “I believe that in the future, delaying and reversing ageing will be the best way to treat the diseases that plague most of us,” says David Sinclair, a molecular biologist at Harvard Medical School.
- Brain-computer interfaces, cell reprogramming, AI-enhanced drug discovery, and bioprinting are some of the technologies that have shown promise in extending the human lifespan.
- Some researchers believe that we could have the first large-scale 3D bioprinted human organs within the next 15-20 years.
As our understanding of the ageing process deepens and longevity technology matures, we may be approaching an era when ageing is viewed not as an inevitable decline, but instead as a manageable condition. However, this potential future brings with it complex societal challenges that will need to be addressed. For one, who will have access to these technologies? And how will they change the way we live, work, and relate to each other?
How would you like to live forever? Or, failing that, would you like to exceed the normal human lifespan? Surely one or both of these sounds enticing to you, but we’re not there just yet. Despite our best efforts to the contrary, ageing – and dying – remains an inextricable part of human existence. While there are certain steps you can take to delay the inevitable, such as eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, getting plenty of sleep, and avoiding stress, these can only take you so far.
Eventually, even the fittest among us will get old and die. But what if we could upend this rule – more specifically, what if there was a way to turn back the biological clock, or at least slow it down considerably? That’s the idea behind longevity technology, a promising new area of research that has made some remarkable strides in recent years. And while it may not exactly enable us to reach immortality, it may very well help us live longer and – perhaps most importantly – healthier lives.
“Modern medicine has almost exclusively focused on treating disease rather than preventing it. This has a major drawback: Although people live longer, they tend to spend that additional time suffering from disease.”
Ed Stanley, head of thematic research at Morgan Stanley
Live long and prosper
While ageing has long been viewed as an inevitable part of life, scientists are getting closer to unlocking its secrets and maybe even reversing the process.
Before we proceed any further, let’s first explain what longevity technology actually is. As you may have already guessed from the name, the term longevity technology refers to any technology that aims to extend the human lifespan by slowing down, halting, or even reversing the ageing process. Now, you may think that this sounds like something straight out of science fiction, but there is in fact a real scientific basis for it.
While modern medicine has come a long way in treating illness, the main problem with conventional healthcare is that it’s largely reactive rather than preventative. In other words, we usually wait until something goes wrong before we try to fix it. “Modern medicine has almost exclusively focused on treating disease rather than preventing it. This has a major drawback: although people live longer, they tend to spend that additional time suffering from disease,” says Ed Stanley, head of thematic research at investment banking company Morgan Stanley.
Unshrouding an ancient mystery
Although the exact mechanics of the ageing process remain somewhat shrouded in mystery – like many aspects of human biology – we do know that ageing can be directly linked to a wide range of health conditions. So, if we could find a way to prevent these age-related conditions from developing in the first place, or at least postpone their onset, we may be able not only to add years to our lives but also ensure that those years are spent in good health, rather than confined to a bed.
Longevity tech encompasses a wide range of innovations designed to address some of the world’s most pressing healthcare challenges. It includes developments like brain-computer interfaces, bioprinting, AI-enhanced drug discovery, and cell reprogramming, to name just a few. While most of these technologies are still in the earliest stages of development, they nevertheless offer renewed hope for people affected by debilitating conditions like various disabilities, neurological disorders, organ failure, and cancer.
Is it all in your head?
Companies around the world are working on brain implants that offer renewed hope for people with disabilities and various neurological disorders.
We’ll start our exploration of longevity tech with a technology that’s slightly further ahead in development than some of the others on this list: brain-computer interfaces. In October 2023, a teenage boy from England suffering from a severe type of epilepsy received a new brain implant developed by London-based Amber Therapeutics. The device, which is called Picostim, is about the size of a mobile phone battery and is placed under the patient’s skull and connected via two electrodes with the thalamus, which is responsible for relaying sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex.
The device works by emitting a constant pulse of current that aims to block or disrupt abnormal bursts of electrical activity in the brain that trigger epileptic seizures. Before being fitted with the brain implant, the boy used to suffer dozens, or sometimes even hundreds of seizures per day, some of which caused him to lose consciousness or even stop breathing. But with the implant, the number of seizures was reduced by a staggering 80%, dramatically improving the boy’s quality of life. The company now plans to implant the device in several other children affected by the same type of epilepsy and is also exploring the use of the device to treat conditions like Parkinson’s disease, chronic pain, and multiple system atrophy.
Putting your mind to work
Of course, there are numerous other companies working on developing their own brain implants. Most readers will already be familiar with Elon Musk’s Neuralink, which has already implanted its brain chip into two people with spinal cord injuries that left them paralysed from the neck down. Using hundreds of tiny electrodes attached directly to the patient’s brain, the device captures the brain’s electrical activity and transmits it to a computer, where AI translates it into action. So far, Neuralink’s implant has enabled the two patients to do all sorts of things they couldn’t do before, including browsing the internet, posting on social media, and even playing video games, just by thinking about it.
Another promising development in this field comes from Spain, where neurotech company Inbrain unveiled the world’s first brain implant made from graphene, which could be a game-changer for people with neurological conditions like Parkinson’s disease. Often hailed as a wonder material, graphene is a million times thinner than human hair, 200 times stronger than steel, and – most importantly – not harmful to human tissue. Inbrain’s implant is placed on the brain’s surface, from where it captures its electrical signals and identifies those responsible for uncontrollable shaking and other symptoms associated with Parkinson’s. It then sends electrical pulses to the regions of the brain that control movement to modulate the signals and thus alleviate the symptoms.
“I believe that in the future, delaying and reversing ageing will be the best way to treat the diseases that plague most of us.”
David Sinclair, a molecular biologist at Harvard Medical School
Making old cells new again
Over time, cells in our bodies become damaged, impairing the functioning of our organs. But what if there was a way to repair the damage and make the cells ‘young’ again?
Some researchers are also experimenting with reprogramming adult cells and returning them to a ‘younger’ state – akin to stem cells – thereby reversing the harmful effects of time and restoring the person’s youth. Back in 2020, David Sinclair, a molecular biologist at Harvard Medical School, injected old mice with poor eyesight and damaged retinas with a protein that turns adult cells into stem cells, enabling the mice to repair damaged neurons and restore their eyesight. Sinclair then repeated the experiment with brain, muscle and kidney cells, achieving similar results.
“We believe we have found the master control switch, a way to rewind the clock,” says Sinclair. “The body will then wake up, remember how to behave, remember how to regenerate and will be young again, even if you’re already old and have an illness.” While it might be a while before the technology is ready for human trials, Sinclair is convinced that it will happen one day. “This is the world that is coming. It’s literally a question of when and for most of us, it’s going to happen in our lifetimes,” he adds. “I believe that in the future, delaying and reversing ageing will be the best way to treat the diseases that plague most of us.”
If I could turn back time
Similarly, biotech startup clock.bio is working on something called the Atlas of Rejuvenation Factors, which is essentially a list of genes that play a role in human cell rejuvenation. In a series of experiments involving CRISPR screens and single-cell RNA sequencing on more than three million stem cells, the company was able to identify 140 genes that promote rejuvenation when activated or inhibited. Using a proprietary technique, they first forcefully aged stem cells before employing gene editing to trigger a self-rejuvenating mechanism within the cells and reverse the ageing process. The company is evaluating each of the 140 identified genes individually to determine which may be linked to specific ageing hallmarks and associated diseases. The 10 most promising candidates will proceed to the next stage of research, wherein the company will try to either identify existing drugs that could be repurposed to target those genes or create new drugs that could do the same.
In September 2024, a team of researchers from Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore made a groundbreaking discovery that could play a key role in slowing down the ageing process. According to a study published in Nature magazine, older organs showed higher concentrations of a protein called interleukin-11 (IL11), which has been directly linked to several key hallmarks of ageing, such as fat accumulation in the liver and abdomen and reduced muscle mass and strength. The researchers then administered an anti-IL11 therapy in the same preclinical model, and the results were nothing short of extraordinary. In addition to notable improvements in metabolism, muscle function, and overall health, the researchers also observed a 25% increase in lifespan in both sexes. “Our aim is that one day, anti-IL11 therapy will be used as widely as possible, so that people the world over can lead healthier lives for longer,” says Stuart Cook, professor of cardiovascular medicine at Duke-NUS.
Warp speed drug discovery
AI offers a potential solution to the challenges associated with new drug discovery, significantly accelerating the timeline and reducing the costs.
Developing a new drug is a notoriously expensive and time-consuming process. On average, it takes over a decade and upwards of US$6.1 billion to develop a single drug. To make matters worse, failure rates are absolutely staggering, with over 90% of drug candidates never making it to market. So, why is it so difficult?
Well, researchers face multiple challenges at every turn; they first need to identify therapeutic targets and then conduct lengthy preclinical and clinical trials, while also ensuring compliance with an increasingly complex regulatory landscape. This is why a growing number of researchers are looking for alternative solutions that would enable them to accelerate the process and reduce their costs, with AI emerging as a particularly promising option.
For example, biotech company Insilico Medicine is using generative AI to identify drugs that could potentially offer novel treatments for a wide range of chronic diseases, as well as target certain biological processes closely linked with ageing. The company’s strategy revolves around discovering dual-purpose drugs that would initially be used to treat age-related diseases and conditions like fibrosis, inflammatory bowel disease, and even cancer. As we learn more about the complex processes involved in ageing and how they are linked to certain diseases, those drugs could eventually be repurposed to prevent those diseases from developing in the first place. According to Alex Zhavoronkov, Insilico’s founder and chief executive, AI could potentially reduce the time required to discover new drugs by up to 70% and reduce overall costs by 90%.
Uncovering the mechanics of disease
Another biotech company, New Jersey’s Anima Biotech, has taken a slightly different approach to drug discovery. It uses a proprietary AI-powered platform called Lightning AI to identify disease pathways that are dependent on messenger RNA (mRNA) and then discover new molecules that might be able to disrupt these pathways. This, it is hoped, would prevent the disease from progressing further and potentially even reversing its course.
Anima Biotech’s process involves feeding millions of cell images into Anima’s neural network, which then compares the images of healthy cells against the diseased ones to identify differences in mRNA activity between the two. Once the system identifies a specific mRNA target, the researchers introduce various small molecules to see if any can interfere with it. The process continues until they find a candidate that successfully reverses the disease characteristics. So far, the company has identified 20 promising therapeutic candidates for various neurological, oncological, and immunological conditions.
“I imagine that bioprinting could extend the human lifespan, making the second half of our lives more enjoyable.”
Vidmantas Sakalys, chief executive of Vital3D
The end of organ waiting lists?
Hundreds of thousands of people around the world are in desperate need of new organs. What if we could just print them on demand?
Did you know that there are currently over 100,000 people in the US alone waiting for organ transplants? Many will wait for years, and some won’t survive long enough to receive the organs they need. Even when someone does receive a transplant, there’s always the possibility that their body might reject the new organ. While there are immunosuppressive drugs that can minimise the risk of rejection, these come with their own set of problems, weakening the patient’s immune system and leaving them vulnerable to all sorts of infections. But what if there was a way to avoid all these complications? What if we could simply print new organs on demand by using the patient’s own cells? Well, that’s precisely what bioprinting aims to achieve.
The process involves taking living cells from a patient and mixing them with a special bio-ink that helps keep the cells alive and gives them structure. Then, using a 3D printer, the new mixture is arranged in precisely controlled patterns to create functional tissue. This continues until eventually an entire ‘organ’ is created. The potential advantages here are huge: since these organs would be made using the patient’s own cells, rejection wouldn’t be an issue, eliminating the need to use immunosuppressants. Plus, organs could be made to order, bringing an end to those agonisingly long waiting lists. As an added bonus, this technology could also prove helpful in drug development by allowing us to test new medications on printed tissue samples rather than relying on animal testing.
Next generation bioprinting
Despite major strides being made in this area, a number of technical challenges remain unaddressed. While scientists have successfully printed simple tissues and even miniature organ-like structures, creating fully functional complex organs has proven more difficult. The biggest challenge is creating a proper network of blood vessels throughout the printed tissue. Without these vital supply lines delivering oxygen and nutrients, the inner cells simply can’t survive. Another major issue is speed – current bioprinting methods, which involve printing tissue one layer at a time, are painstakingly slow and can sometimes take days, weeks, or even months, depending on the complexity, size, and type of tissue being created.
Looking to address this issue, a team of researchers from Penn State developed an innovative bioprinting technique that uses clusters of cells called ‘spheroids’ to create complex tissue 10 times faster than other existing methods. To demonstrate the capabilities of the new technique, the researchers used it to repair tissue in a rat model during a skull surgery. Using a digitally controlled nozzle array that can manipulate multiple spheroids at the same time, they printed spheroids directly into a wound site and then used microRNA technology to program them to transform into bone. This resulted in an accelerated bone repair timeline, showing a 96% healed wound after just six weeks. The researchers have now set their sights on finding a way to incorporate blood vessels into the fabricated tissue, which is a key requirement for creating other, more complex types of tissue.
Another waiting game
There are also several other novel bioprinting techniques that are showing a great deal of promise. One of them was developed by a Lithuania-based biotech company called Vital3D and differs from conventional techniques in that it uses a unique printing tool – laser light. The process involves directing a source of light at the photosensitive bioink, which causes the material within to harden and form the desired structure.
According to the company, the ultimate goal is to build a fully functional bioprinted kidney that could one day be implanted into the human body. Admittedly, it might be a while before we get there. “15 to 20 years is a reasonable timeframe for the appearance of the first large-scale 3D bioprinted human organ,” says Vidmantas Sakalys, chief executive of Vital3D. “I imagine that bioprinting could extend the human lifespan, making the second half of our lives more enjoyable.”
Filtering out the bad stuff
Toxins and other harmful substances accumulate in our blood as we age. Some believe that the answer to this issue is to replace the plasma in our blood with another liquid.
As the final chapter in our exploration of longevity technology, we’ll take a closer look at another interesting concept that has attracted a lot of attention lately: Therapeutic Plasma Exchange (TPE). The procedure involves taking a patient’s blood and passing it through a special machine, which removes plasma from the blood and replaces it with another fluid, such as albumin or clean plasma from a younger donor. Once this process is complete, the clean blood is then returned to the patient.
The main purpose of the procedure is to eliminate harmful substances from the bloodstream, such as toxins and antibodies, which accumulate in the plasma. TPE has already proven very effective in treating neurological disorders like multiple sclerosis, several blood disorders, and even some types of cancer. Scientists also believe that the procedure could be beneficial to overall wellbeing and vitality, hence why a growing number of people are experimenting with it as a way to cheat death.
Who wants to live forever?
One of the world’s biggest proponents of TPE is tech mogul Bryan Johnson, who recently made headlines by claiming that his 71-year-old father’s biological age decreased by 25 years after undergoing a TPE procedure in which he received one litre of his own plasma. Johnson underwent the procedure himself earlier, removing all of the plasma in his blood and replacing it with an albumin solution. TPE is just one of the components of Johnson’s elaborate regimen called Project Blueprint, which also involves a strict diet and exercise routine, blood infusions from his teenage son, and a full array of other tests and experiments.
Understandably, his most recent claims were met with a great deal of scepticism, but Johnson remains undeterred. “Imagine we’re speaking with Homo erectus a million years ago and we ask them: What do you think future humanity’s ability will be to repair broken bones or infections? All the things that would cause them a death in their teenage years and early 20s,” he adds. “Imagine us telling them: ‘You’re just going to take this little white thing and put it in your mouth, and it’s going to eliminate the infection.’ Or when someone breaks a bone: ‘We’re actually going to fix it…and you’ll operate just as you did before.’”
Learnings
So what’s the big takeaway here? Are we on the verge of cheating death? Or at least substantially delaying the inevitable? At this point, it remains very unlikely – at least for the foreseeable future. Most of the technologies we have covered remain in the earliest stages of development. While some of them have indeed shown some promise, it may be years or even decades before they are ready to be tested in living persons. And who knows if they will live up to the promise?
Even if longevity technology doesn’t enable us to achieve immortality one day, it’s already helping us better understand how our bodies age and what we might do to stay healthy longer. If it can help us not just add more years to our lives but ensure that the time we do have is lived to its fullest potential, that may be more than enough to justify all of the work that goes into its development. Even if it means that we have to come to terms with our own mortality.
