Immortality by 2039 Biohacker Bryan Johnson bets he can live forever
Biohacker Bryan Johnson has claimed he will 'achieve immortality' within the next 15 years. The 48-year-old, who claims to be more than a decade younger biologically, wrote on X this week that with each year that passes, 'I remain the same biological age.' He also claimed that 'for the first time in the history of life on Earth, in just the past 24 months, the window has opened for a conscious being to realistically strive' to live forever.
In This Article:
A timeline and the AI edge
Johnson said he is hoping to achieve immortality by 2039, when he will be chronologically 62 years old. Johnson also wrote: "We currently do not know how 2039 immortality will be achieved... but we know immortality is possible because nature has already solved it. This isn’t a physics problem like trying to travel faster than the speed of light, it’s a biological engineering problem that evolution has cracked multiple times." Johnson continued: "2039 is a reasonable target because of the accelerated, AI-driven rate of innovation. AI is morphing from assistant to scientist. It is powering current researchers with previously unimagined capabilities to enhance discovery and development. That, coupled with enhanced biomarker measurement, creates a closed-loop system of improvement that will speed things up dramatically." Johnson has long drawn controversy over his costly and bizarre $2million per year methods for lowering his biological age, including receiving blood transfusions from his teenage son and measuring his erections at night.
The body and the brain diverge yet the goal stays the same
Over the last six years, his body 'largely operates at elite 18-year-old levels,' including heart health, fertility and hormone levels. However, he noted his brain is 'anatomically age 42' and that he has mild to moderate hearing loss in his left ear. To support his immortality by 2039 theory, Johnson gave several examples of animals that are 'effectively ageless' and 'immortal' themselves, including the jellyfish Turritopsis dohrnii, which can revert its cells back to a youthful state, and freshwater hydra, a sea creature that regenerates cells. Johnson claims he lowered his biological age by measuring 'the biological age of every organ.' 'We referenced the best scientific evidence on how to slow aging and rejuvenate. We methodically completed these protocols and measured again. Rinse and repeat. 'We could do so much more and faster if we had better measurement and better therapies. Both of which are cooking all over the world right now.' Johnson claimed he is having 'thousands of Bryan Johnson organ clones built in a dish' to help test the effects of drugs and other therapies on how his body ages, though it's unclear exactly what this involves. 'I think this is the coolest goal imaginable. I find it hard to believe that of all the people who’ve lived, it’s us who get the opportunity to have this moment,' he said.
A long arc of myths and real quests for immortality
Human history is filled with stories of people trying to achieve immortality, dating back thousands of years. The story of ancient Mesopotamian hero Gilgamesh details his attempts to avoid death by not sleeping, while ancient Egyptians would drink 'potions' to help preserve their bodies. In 16th century France, King Henry II's mistress Diane de Poitiers drank gold because alchemists believed it would lead to immortality. And like Johnson, Pope Innocent VIII received blood from three young, healthy men in 1492, which was believed to be the first blood transfusion, to stay alive after a stroke. Jeanne Calment of France was believed to have been the longest-lived human in history at 122 years and 164 days old. She was born in 1875 and died in 1997.
Facts and context that frame the debate
Meanwhile, Johnson's quest for immortality comes as life expectancy in the US is finally on the upswing after several years of unprecedented decline. According to the latest CDC data, the average American's life expectancy is 76 years, and there is a gap between women and men. While women on average reach 80 years, men only get to 75. Johnson wrote on X: 'Right now, we are a suicidal species. We do all kinds of really primitive s***. We unnecessarily kill ourselves with what we eat and how we live our lives. Companies make profits from killing other people with their products. We trash the only home we have. We celebrate these things as virtue. It’s really f***** up and backward. Soon enough we’ll realize just how infantile we are right now. The 2039 goal points us in the right direction. To say yes to life and no to death. Defiance even.' While no human has ever lived forever, some researchers believe lifespan could be increased within the next few decades. Stephen Austad, a biology of aging researcher at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said earlier this month that he believes the first human to reach their 150th birthday is likely already alive.
