New Delhi:
Calm and reassured when it comes to internal elections and global ties, what probably keeps Russian President Vladimir Putin up at night is his attempt to defy one of the harshest mortality rates reported in his country and a $26 billion longevity initiative at the centre of it.
The program, a state priority, is looking at methods as radical as bio-printing and xenotransplantation, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. One entails the use of 3D-printed living tissue, while the other comprises growing human organs inside mini pigs.
This puts Putin among a league of world figures who have trained their focus on longevity and anti-ageing, shoulder to shoulder with Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman and Bryan Johnson. The initiative, which encompasses a gene therapy treatment in the works, was launched in 2024 and is pipped to save 1,75,000 lives by 2020, per the Wall Street Journal report.
Photo Credit: AFP
Achievements so far include bioprinted human cartilage tissue and a mouse thyroid gland, and the long-term goal is human organ replacement by the end of the decade.
Who Is Heading The Project?
Helming the initiative is Putin’ daughter and endocrinologist Maria Vorontsova and physicist Mikhail Kovalchuk. The latter, as per the report, believes that science will eventually figure out a way to repair and even replace human body parts. “It is difficult to discuss immortality, but the ability to repair man will undoubtedly increase,” Kovalchuk had told Russian media.
In a 2015 speech, Kovalchuk had also suggested the US was behind the Covid pandemic and said it was moving towards creating “servant humans”. He had also praised the 1968 movie Dead Season, wherein the CIA was shown to conspire with Nazi doctors to control humanity.
Questionable Goals
Alexander Ostrovskiy, a Russian scientist known for pioneering bioprinting research in the country, flagged the lack of peer-reviewed research in major international journals to validate their initiative. This makes their statements “aspirations” at best, he told Wall Street Journal. The scientist, who left Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, said the scientists involved are probably telling Putin what he wants to hear to secure funding.
Photo Credit: AFP
Putin’s Less Credible Attempts To Reverse Ageing
Seen shirtless on horseback, playing ice hockey, exercising in the gym and skin appearing smoother as he ages, 73-year-old Putin’s obsession with reversing bodily decline and preserving internal and external health was seen during the Covid pandemic. Disinfection tunnels and lengthy isolation was made mandatory for those who wanted to meet him.
Among his obsessions is cryotherapy, according to the Wall Street Journal report, the benefits of which he had explained to Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in 2018. In the reverse sauna, the body is exposed to temperatures as low as minus 170 degrees Fahrenheit.
In fact, it was Putin’s recent hot mic moment with his Chinese counterpart that shows the longevity initiative still remains top priority for him. He was heard telling Xi jinping that humans could achieve immortality by replacing organs.
Ambition Or Paranoia?
Having remained the Russian President for the longest time, Putin’s shot at a prolonged life mirrors attempts by various figures from the country. Polymath Alexander Bogdanov and physician Oleksandr Bogomolets have been recognised for their work in the longevity arena. Interesting to note is that Putin and his closest aides are all in their 70s – Kovalchuk, Yuri Ushakov, Sergei Chemezov and Nikolai Patrushev among them. Would the future of a leadership vaccum be a factor in prolonging his age?
Another likely reason can be to better Russia’s mortality rates. While the US and western Europe have an average male life expectancy of 76 and 80 years, Russia’s stands at 68.
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