Biotechnology expert Alexei Sturgein has announced that the average human life expectancy could rise to 100 years in the near future.
He explained that achieving this depends on increasing funding allocated to aging research, and giving this issue greater attention by the leaders of major countries.
Sturgeon, who collaborates with the Biomedical Technologies Group at the Skolkovo Institute of Technology in Russia and Moscow State University, said:
"Raising life expectancy to 90-100 years within the next ten years is entirely realistic, but it requires serious support for scientific research. Currently, global spending on aging biology research does not exceed one billion dollars annually, which is a very small figure."
He added that the number of researchers working diligently in this field is no more than 3,000, equivalent to the number of employees at a medium-sized technology company. He pointed out that despite limited resources, scientists have achieved remarkable results, including extending the lifespan of some organisms several times over and regenerating human cells for extended periods. He continued, "Imagine what could be achieved with sufficient funding; the prospects for this field are extremely promising."
In the same context, Sturgeon stressed that tools to support anti-aging research are developing in Russia, explaining that the Institute of Medical and Educational Research at Moscow State University signed a partnership agreement last March with the biotechnology agency "Plastim," which is working on developing projects related to extending lifespan.
He also noted the opening of the Institute of Aging Biology and Healthy Aging Medicine under the supervision of Alexei Moskalev, in addition to the continued provision of research grants in this field by the Russian Science Foundation and the Innovation Support Foundation.
For his part, Professor Peter Lidsky of the University of Hong Kong had previously stated that human lifespan may not have a theoretical limit, but that raising the average lifespan to 120 years would require significant qualitative progress in the medical field.
