From power to immortality: Xi, Putin and the politics of longevity

India Today

A hot mic caught Xi and Putin musing about living to 150 — even “immortality.”

Transcript

00:00A hot mic broadcasts their chitchat to the world.

00:06Chinese President Xi Jinping, 72 years old, mused that humans might one day live to 150.

00:12Russian President Vladimir Putin, also 72, shot back that organ transplants could pave

00:17the way to immortality.

00:19Kim Jong Un, North Korea's leader, walked silently beside them, listening in.

00:23China is not only talking longevity, it's investing heavily.

00:26By 2035, its over 60 population is projected to cross 400 million people.

00:31To prepare, Beijing has poured billions into biotech partnerships and licensing deals.

00:36About $28 billion in 2022, $38 billion in 2023 and $46 billion in 2024.

00:43Some top public hospitals have already opened longevity or health-ageing clinics.

00:48Chinese teams have reported pig-to-human xenotransplants, basically transplanting lungs in brain-dead

00:54recipients, and even a liver in a living patient.

00:58This was made possible by heavy gene editing to reduce rejection.

01:02And in early 2025, scientists at the Chinese Academy of Sciences engineered stem-cell-based

01:07therapies that appeared to reverse biological age markers in macaques.

01:12Machine learning clocks estimated brain neurons were rejuvenated by 6-7 years, and even Ukaites

01:18regained youthful traits.

01:21That's not immortality, but it's a striking proof of concept.

01:24Russia is echoing this with its own longevity talk.

01:28Moscow has declared new health preservation technologies a state priority.

01:32And Rosatel, better known for nuclear power, has set up a bioprinting lab that produces organ

01:38models.

01:39Actual transplant-ready 3D printed organs, though, are still far off.

01:42Putin himself has long been preoccupied with health, from quarantining visitors during Covid,

01:47to now pitching longevity science as a strategic priority.

01:50Globally, anti-aging biotech is exploding.

01:53Sinolydex drugs that clear out zombie cells are in advanced trials.

01:57Rapamycin has delayed Alzheimer's in mice.

01:59Epigenetic reprogramming has reset age markers in pre-clinical studies.

02:03But here's the part that stings.

02:05These conversations about cheating death are happening between men who've already bent rules

02:09to extend their power.

02:11Putin changed Russia's constitution so he could stay in office until 2036, when he'd be 83.

02:17Xi scrapped term limits in 2018 and has yet to name a successor.

02:21His predecessors lived long lives too.

02:24Deng Xiaoping made it to 92, Jiang Zemin to 96.

02:27So that hot mic moment was not just gossip, it was a glimpse of tomorrow.

02:31Follow our channel for more no-fluff explainers like this.

02:33Share this video with as many people as you can and do tell us what you think.

02:36Will longevity be a shared human triumph or another tool for the world's most powerful people?

02:42I'm Manish Abigali, thank you for watching Fast Things Fast.

02:50guys will see you next time.

02:53We'll be off now.

02:54this time soon.

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