Life-extending pills: a new demand for the wealthy and fears of side effects

Accusations of selfishness and self-love

A new report has raised questions about a group of billionaires funding research companies seeking to invent longevity pills that will turn the rich into "sleek and distinguished zombies."

This frightening warning comes amid fears that artificial intelligence and biotechnology are advancing at such a rapid pace that anti-aging pills may only be a matter of years.

Spending on regenerative medicine

According to the New York Post, a group of financial tycoons, such as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, and ChatGPT's Sam Altman, have thrown their fortunes behind regenerative medicine, and they are a group of a long line of wealthy people who are investing in this pursuit.

The current near-term goal is for 90 to be the new 50.

Billions of dollars spent

Bezos reportedly invested $3 billion — the largest biotech company launch ever — in Altos Labs, which he co-founded with Russian-born billionaire Yuri Milner in 2021.

The startup has hired top scientists to research how to reverse the ageing process and is pursuing so-called biological reprogramming technology, which would allow scientists to regenerate cells in the lab.

Altos Labs has been immediately compared to Calico Labs, a similar company started by Google co-founder Larry Page in 2013 to focus on longevity and reprogramming.

They’re not the only billionaires looking to fight ageing: PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel has invested in the Methuselah Foundation, which describes itself as “a nonprofit medical charity focused on extending healthy human lifespan by making 90 the new 50.”

New organs and bones

Among the goals of this foundation are to develop technologies that can create new organs, blood vessels and bones, remove “destructive biological structures” from the body, conduct further studies on epigenetics, and restore things like cognition and physical ability in the elderly.

Last year, it was revealed that ChatGPT founder Sam Altman had funded the biotech startup Retro BioScience with $180 million.

The company focuses on “cell reprogramming” and is less than four years away from developing a clinical proof of concept. It promises to extend human lifespans by 10 years.

Last summer, researchers at Imperial College London and Duke Medical School in Singapore announced the discovery of a new drug that increases the lifespan of laboratory mice by about 25%.

“At the rate at which technology is advancing, it will only be a matter of time before life-extending drugs are freely available to those who can afford them,” said Phil Clari, founder of the SmartWater Group.

Planet of Zombies and Side Effects

Clari described the pursuit of the Holy Grail of medicine as “ego-driven” and accused the tycoons of risking creating a planet of “privileged zombies.”

“Silicon Valley’s relentless pursuit of the fountain of youth is a fear-driven, ego-driven folly that comes at a terrible human cost to the planet and its most vulnerable inhabitants,” said Clari, author of Elixir, a novel that explores the devastating consequences of life-extending drugs on society.

“They should use their vast wealth to help the world’s poorest children survive to adulthood at least,” Clari said. “Instead of extending the lives of the wealthy elite, their money would be better spent on the 5 million children in the world who die each year from hunger and other preventable and treatable causes.”