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"The longer you live, the younger you become," was the surprising phrase that permeated an unexpected conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, captured on an open microphone during a bilateral meeting. The topic? Organ transplants and the dream of immortality, a concept that has tempted emperors, dictators and, most recently... billionaires for centuries.
According to Putin's interpreter, the leaders talked about advances in biotechnology and the possibility of a life span of up to 150 years. Xi added that in this century, people could achieve unprecedented longevity: "In the past, reaching 70 years old was a miracle, today at that age you are still a child."
Is it possible?
Science is more skeptical. According to Prof. Piergiorgio Messa, an Italian nephrologist, the idea that humans could live much longer solely through organ transplants is “scientifically inaccurate and biologically limited.” So far, all transplants are based on organs from other people, while the technology for synthetic or animal organs is far from being realized.
Also, the organisms that receive transplants, usually elderly, have biological limits that even the healthiest organ cannot exceed, and the medications needed to prevent organ rejection often harm life expectancy, not increase it.
From science fiction to biological reality
This topic has long captured the imagination of writers. Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro's novel "Never Let Me Go" describes a world where human clones are grown to serve as organ reservoirs, dying silently in favor of "natural people."
However, the solution to longevity lies not in transplants but in cellular regeneration, a field that is still at the frontiers of research. According to Messa, complete organ regeneration could lead us to the “chimera of immortality,” but with great biological costs: cells that do not follow the normal aging cycle can behave like cancer cells.
The paradox of immortality
In trying to stop aging, scientists face a dangerous choice: if they eliminate damaged cells, they pave the way for tumors. If they stop the latter, the body is left filled with weak and inefficient cells.
Some more recent research, summarized by American cardiologist Eric Topol, talks about techniques such as cellular reprocessing, senolytics (drugs that target senescent cells), transfusions from young organisms, or the use of rapamycin, a substance that extends life in animals but damages the immune system.
What about 150 years of life?
A study by the University of Illinois recently published in Nature Aging an analysis that shows that the improvement in human lifespan is slowing down. According to them, the average lifespan has reached a "ceiling", about 87 years, with a little more for women and a little less for men. Some mathematical models have suggested that humans could reach up to 150 years, but only in theory and with a lot of "ifs".
In practice, cases like that of Jeanne Calment, the French woman who lived to be 122 years old, are rare exceptions.
What can we realistically do?
Experts suggest that the best way to live long and well is not to pursue the dream of technological “immortality” but to reduce the risk of age-related diseases, such as cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s. And this doesn’t just apply to the wealthy.
Studies from the University of Oxford show that 75% of aging is influenced by lifestyle, not genes. Healthy eating, physical activity, quality sleep, stress reduction and positive socialization are still the safest, and most affordable, medicines for a longer life. /Corriere Della Sera
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