The real longevity breakthroughs are already here

Axios

05-05-2025

Silicon Valley billionaires like Sam Altman, Peter Thiel and Jeff Bezos are pouring billions into ventures trying to slow or reverse the aging process, wagering that reprogrammable cells and AI-driven drug design can deliver a fountain of youth — or at least ward off death.
Physician-researcher Eric Topol offers this dose of reality: The real game-changers are already here.
The big picture: In "Super Agers," his new book due out Tuesday, the founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute writes that the answer doesn't lie in turning back time, but in harnessing our improved capabilities to predict and prevent chronic diseases.
The hunt for immortality is as old as life itself. But in the last decade, the once niche longevity field has exploded into the mainstream, drawing in scientists, biotechs, longevity clinics and wellness influencers.
The offerings now veer into sci-fi: reprogramming cells to a younger state, tweaking genes, whole-body MRIs and blood plasma cocktails.
"This craze on longevity like we've never had before, part of that is being propelled by the science of aging going into high gear," Topol said.
Topol says the work, while promising, has largely been shown to work in animals and carries safety concerns, such as the potential to cause cancer. Ultimately, it may never achieve the goal of reversing aging in humans — and could be prohibitively expensive.
Between the lines: Instead, Topol says the cause for optimism is that the top age-related diseases — cancer, cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's — take decades to develop and give us time to prevent them.
"The common threads are these three diseases take a long time. They all have the same pathogenesis or underpinnings, and we have new tools like we never had," Topol said.
There are much better ways to accurately narrow down who's most at risk of developing disease using certain relatively inexpensive tests for biomarkers that measure the biological age of different organs in the body.
Armed with that data and AI, doctors will be able to target increased disease surveillance and lifestyle interventions accordingly for an individual rather than following general population-based guidance.
There are also certain drugs like GLP-1s that are showing remarkable ability to treat and prevent disease because of their anti-inflammatory processes.
"We're in a really power position now to achieve the fantasy of primary prevention," Topol said. "To be able to prevent a disease because at the individual level, you have this unique information about you, that's what's really bringing this into reality."
Zoom in: One of the most important pieces to this is the expanding understanding of how lifestyle can influence factors like inflammation and immunity — and thus our health — as we age.
More than ever is understood about how the makeup of our diet, types of exercise and sleep quality are related to aging of the brain and the body and the immune system, he said.
We also better understand the long-term health impact of limiting environmental toxicity, like exposure to microplastics, forever chemicals and pesticides, as well as addressing social factors like time in nature and social isolation.
"Lifestyle factors is the biggest thing we have right now, and essentially, they're all free," Topol said. "You don't need any influencer to try to make money. These are all things we can do, all of us, that are actually of low cost or free."
Of note: Policymakers are also paying attention to the world of longevity. Last week, a group of researchers on aging met with House lawmakers and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Mehmet Oz on Capitol Hill to discuss the science.
The intrigue: Elon Musk reportedly refused to invest in longevity, believing it's a waste of money and could cause society to stagnate.
The bottom line: Skip the immortality serum. It's actually a reboot to the practice of medicine and some lifestyle changes that could ultimately add years of healthy living to your life — no billionaire bank account required.