Immortality for Sale: Silicon Valley's Quest to Live Forever
If you could, would you pay to live forever? In Silicon Valley, a handful of billionaires are not just building tech companies — they are pursuing immortality. Social media is flooded with influencers promoting peptides, “functional” mushroom powders, and other so-called hacks said to maximize your lifespan. Many of these claims rest on little evidence. The quest to live longer and look younger has become a booming industry, spanning ice baths, saunas, cryotherapy chambers, and red light therapy. The bright lure hides a darker reality: commercial interests catering to our fear of ageing.
In This Article:
Innovation Without Evidence: The Hype Machine of the Longevity Industry
Innovation is the engine of the longevity industry, attracting venture capital and celebrity investors hoping to “hack” ageing. Yet these ideas are often not backed by high-quality evidence. Full-body MRI is marketed as a way to identify cancer and other abnormalities early, before they are harder to treat. There is no robust evidence that these scans improve health outcomes for healthy people, and medical colleges do not recommend routine screening. These scans can produce incidentalomas—unexpected findings that prompt unnecessary follow-up, costs, and anxiety. The industry markets itself as disruptive preventive care, but it remains dependent on the broader health system for follow-ups and interventions. That can strain already stretched services while delivering limited population health benefits. Even high-profile advocates push this premise, with some endorsing costly, unproven approaches. For example, US venture capitalist Bryan Johnson reportedly spends millions on a hyper-controlled regimen—hundreds of daily supplements, a strict diet, precise sleep and exercise routines, and even transfusions of his own son's blood plasma.
Overdiagnosis and Incidental Findings: The Cost of More Testing
One of the clearest risks is overdiagnosis: the more you test, the more you find, including abnormalities that may never affect health in a lifetime. Unnecessary investigations can lead to a cascade of follow-up tests, procedures, costs, and anxiety. The results are often clinically irrelevant and can mislead patients and doctors alike. This cycle shows how easily the line between prevention and marketing blurs, turning health care into a marketplace that rewards more testing rather than better outcomes.
Medicalising Ageing: When Age Becomes a Market
A broader problem is the medicalisation of ageing. The longevity movement risks treating normal ageing as a disease to be managed rather than a natural life stage. This mindset, coupled with aggressive marketing, can divert attention and resources away from proven public health measures—such as vaccines and age-appropriate cancer screening—toward expensive, unproven interventions. The big question is who benefits and how to ensure that essential health system functions remain strong for everyone as society ages.
What Actually Works: Real Health, Real Care, Real Evidence
The best-known guidance remains simple and well-supported: regular exercise, healthy food, sound sleep, meaningful relationships, and access to evidence-based medical care. Experts warn against chasing unproven tech and costly tests that drain time, money, and hope. Public health advocates remind us that research into longevity must be rigorous, but care must stay affordable and accessible for all. If longevity is the goal, progress should be responsible—driven by transparent evidence, ethical practices, and a commitment to real quality of life rather than marketing hype.
