My reporting has also made me realize that the current interest in longevity goes beyond social media influencers and wellness centers. The number of longevity clinics is increasing, and documentaries about living longer or forever are abounding.
At the same time, powerful people who influence state laws, huge federal funding budgets, and even national health policy are prioritizing the discovery of treatments that slow or reverse aging. When longtime supporter Jim O’Neill was named deputy secretary of Health and Human Services last year, the longevity community was thrilled. Other members of the Trump administration, including Oz, have also talked about longevity. “It looks like we now have the most pro-longevity administration in American history,” Gries told me.
I recently spoke with Alicia Jackson, the new director of ARPA-H. The agency, set up in 2022 under Joe Biden, funds “breakthrough” biomedical research. And there appears to be a new focus on longevity. Jackson previously founded and led foreverA company that focuses on “Health and Longevity for Every Woman”.
“There are a lot of interesting technologies out there, but they all come back to the same thing: Can we extend life years?” he told me on a Zoom call a few weeks ago. He said his agency had received “incredible support” from “the top levels of HHS.” I asked if she was referring to Jim O’Neill. “Yes,” she said. She won’t go into specifics.
Gries is right: There is a lot of support for advances in longevity treatments, and some of it is coming from influential people in positions of power. Perhaps this sector really is poised for a breakthrough.
And that’s what makes this area so attractive to cover. Despite the occasional oddity.
This article first appeared in The Checkup, MIT Technology Review Weekly Biotech Newsletter. To get it in your inbox every Thursday, and to be the first to read articles like this, Sign up here.
