Is Science Ending Death? Here's What Experts Say

You hear talk everywhere about living forever. Presidents from Russia and China discuss immortality. Wealthy people pour billions into studies to fight aging. Biohacking, which uses technology for body wellness, grows fast. Social media fills with routines, therapies, and supplements that promise longer lives.

But how much truth is in these claims of immortality? We looked at published science. We checked what scientists predict against what influencers promise. We found that today, millions of people live shorter lives because of unfair differences in society.

The Science of Living Longer: What's Real?

Science focused on longevity has grown a lot in recent years. Researchers are trying different ways to extend life. Here are some of the main efforts.

Organ Transplants

Organ transplants help people live longer. There is no doubt about this. The number of transplants has gone up by over 16% in the last ten years. More than 172,000 transplants happen each year.

However, this number is still less than 10% of what the world needs. Many organs are still missing. Scientists are researching ways to grow organs from stem cells. They are also trying to create tiny artificial organs in labs or print them with 3D bioprinters. But these are all early-stage projects.

Also, transplanted organs do not last forever. The body can reject the new organ. This remains a big problem. The most important organ, the brain, cannot be transplanted yet.

Resveratrol: The "Longevity Molecule"?

Resveratrol is a natural compound. It is found in many plants and fruits like grapes and blueberries. Many people online call it the "longevity molecule."

One person who supports resveratrol is David Sinclair, a Harvard geneticist. He says he takes resveratrol with yogurt. He claims it has made his biological age 10 years younger. In 2006, Sinclair helped publish a study. It showed that resveratrol caused changes linked to longer lives in obese mice.

Since then, despite the buzz, no one has proven that resveratrol makes people live longer. Guillermo López Yuk, a cell biologist from the Pablo de Olavide University in Spain, worked with Sinclair on that famous study. He explains that the doses used for resveratrol in mice are too high for humans. He also points out that the mouse study used obese mice. When they tested resveratrol on normal mice with a regular diet, it did not extend their lives.

Resveratrol helps metabolism. It acts like a "metabolic vaccine." It helps cells protect themselves from toxins. But scientists do not believe it will increase human longevity or cure aging.

NAD and NMN Supplements

Other molecules, like NAD and NMN, also get the "longevity molecule" label. These are linked to resveratrol. Sinclair also promotes them. Countless supplements are sold online. But there is no proven science behind them either.

Some studies on living things show these compounds can cause bad side effects. Our cells naturally make NMN. But taking too much of anything can be harmful. For example, taking vitamins when you do not need them can create problems. The same might be true for NAD and NMN.

It is unclear why a Harvard geneticist like Sinclair promotes these things so strongly. Many scientists have lost respect for him because of his claims. For example, he claimed to have developed the first supplement that reversed aging in dogs. Sinclair later backed away from this statement. It was published by Animal Bioscience, a company he co-founded with his brother. But the damage was already done. Scientists close to him, like Matt Kaeberlein, accused him of lying and risking animals for money.

Other Immortality Gurus

Not all people pushing for immortality are even experts in their field.

• José Luis Cordeiro: An engineer, he is famous in the Spanish-speaking world. He claims we will soon see the "death of death." Cordeiro, who is close to Argentine President Javier Milei, says that by 2045, death will be optional. He believes he will be younger in 30 years than he is today. He recently held a longevity summit in Madrid. It mixed top scientists with self-proclaimed transhumanist activists who had no scientific training.
• Bryan Johnson: This millionaire is famous online. He gets all kinds of tests and treatments to reverse aging. One treatment involves getting blood transfusions from his teenage son.

Young Blood Transfusions

Is there any science behind transfusions of young blood? In 2014, a study found that giving young blood to old mice made their brain functions and neural connections younger. But this study has never been repeated in humans.

More recently, a similar study in humans was published. It involved giving plasma with added antibodies to adults. The study claimed to reduce the biological age of people by 2.6 years. However, this study was very small, with only 42 participants. The follow-up lasted only a few months. Other scientists say the long-term effects are unknown.

Also, a company called Circulate Health funded this study. This company does plasma transfusions. One of its co-founders, Eric Berdin, also co-authored the study. This raises questions about potential bias.

Rapamycin

Rapamycin is another molecule thought to cure aging. Michael Hall studied it over 30 years ago. He found two proteins, TOR1 and TOR2. These proteins control cell growth and, thus, cell aging.

Hall himself admits that cell regulation has been studied in mice, flies, or yeast, but not in humans. Despite this, rapamycin spreads quickly on social media. People claim it has anti-aging properties. But it is officially sold as a medicine to suppress the immune system and treat cancer.

Hall has stated he does not take rapamycin. He believes it is not possible to avoid death. He says people can, however, stay healthy until they die. Hall is a leading expert on aging. His prediction is much more careful than the bold claims of ending death.

Cell Reprogramming

Another major area of research is cell reprogramming. This has shown great results in experiments, and it is important to remember it is still experimental.

In 2006, Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka reprogrammed adult cells. He turned them back into pluripotent stem cells. These cells can develop into any type of adult cell. Yamanaka won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2012 for this. But his method of rejuvenating cells by activating four genes was not safe. It created tumors.

In 2016, a team led by Spanish scientist Juan Carlos Izpisúa found a way to rejuvenate cells without causing tumors. They did this by turning Yamanaka's four genes on and off. They tested this in living mice. It extended their lives by 30%.

But Izpisúa also says his goal is to achieve a healthy life for a longer time, not to live for hundreds or thousands of years more. Izpisúa leads one of the research institutes at Altos Labs. This company has received a huge investment of about $3 billion. The money comes from some of the world's richest people, like Yuri Milner, a Facebook investor, and possibly Jeff Bezos, Amazon's owner.

Altos Labs and Calico are just two examples. Sergey Brin, a Google co-founder, started Calico 12 years ago with an estimated budget of $2.5 billion. These show how Silicon Valley's richest people spend their money trying to stop aging.

The High Cost of Longevity

Anti-aging medicine, with all its supplements and treatments, is already for the rich. It will be available to only a few people because these therapies are very expensive. Whether they actually work is less clear. But greater longevity has always gone hand-in-hand with wealth.

The big dreams of Silicon Valley highlight a major health inequality that exists today.

Health Inequality: A Global Problem

According to a World Health Organization report this year, a person's lifespan can vary by up to 30 years depending on where they are born. Latin America also shows this problem. People in Puerto Rico, Chile, or Panama live the longest in the region. People in El Salvador, Bolivia, or Haiti live the shortest. The difference between these groups can be as much as 17 years.

This inequality also exists within countries. Take Mexico as an example. The state with the highest life expectancy is Nuevo León, at 77.9 years. Chiapas is at the opposite end, with 4.5 fewer years of life. Nuevo León has the third-largest economy of Mexico's 32 states. Chiapas's economy is much smaller. The link between shorter life expectancy and less wealth is common in other states like Guerrero. Baja California Sur is the only exception.

A Sobering Conclusion

While the richest people dream that science will let them live forever, the poorest people still hope they will not die too soon. The quest for immortality is active, but true, proven breakthroughs are still far off. For now, health and longevity remain deeply tied to a person's social and economic situation.