Want to Live Forever? Well, You Could If You’re a Billionaire

Several moneybags have reportedly been financing research into the development of life-extension technologies for the mega-rich.

California-based entrepreneur, and future-tech promoter Peter Diamandis has joined forces with renowned biomedical entrepreneur and expert in placental stem cells development, Dr. Bob Hariri, to co-found Celularity to make the moneyed people’s most cherished dream come true, Deutsche Welle reported.

"Celularity seeks to make 100 years old the new 60, and to provide people with maximum aesthetics, mobility and cognition as they age,” the new firm announced on its website.

Celularity will be using stem cells to regenerate tissues and organs for aging bodies.

As people grow older, the number of stem cells in their system declines, undermining the body’s ability to heal and repair itself.

“By replenishing our reservoir of stem cells, nature's repair kit, on an ongoing basis, we can augment our longevity," Cellularity’s website says.

Investors in Longevity

Celularity is the latest example of a well-established phenomenon in Silicon Valley with wealthy technocrats funding biomedical research to fight off old age, and the cancerous and neurodegenerative diseases it brings, in their desire to live healthily forever.

Diamandis and his techno-optimist colleagues believe that with each passing year, the life span of those rich enough to gain access to the best regenerative technologies will increase by more than one year.

This means that about a decade from now, at least some of them can hope to become virtually immortal.

One thing is clear: If technologically feasible, the so-called Longevity Escape Velocity method will become a reality and the first beneficiaries will be the billionaires who financed it.

What Next?

This, in turn, poses two major political-economy problems. First, if millions, and possibly billions of people eventually live for centuries, how do we avoid overpopulation?

Besides, to compensate for the explosive growth in population, people will have to bear fewer children. As a result, the share of children in the overall population will go down accordingly.

The other question is whether society will accept the emergence of a mega-rich elite whose members simply refuse to die. One solution to this could be an upper limit on personal wealth and ownership rights.

In any case, these are the two big questions humanity will have answer in the next few decades, DW wrote.

READ MORE: Secret to Long and Healthy Life Lies in Your Blood, Claim Italian Scientists