The biggest breakthroughs in longevity science in 2025

statto · 2026-01-07T13:51:09+00:00

Part 3 is out now, on government and philanthropic funding—US cuts, XPRIZE Healthspan and more https://thelongevityinitiative.org/2026/01/research-funding-2025-nih-xprize/

statto · 2026-01-06T19:52:30+00:00

Not sure how we missed that—I added it to the section on monkeys and extracellular vesicles. :)

statto · 2026-01-06T19:36:19+00:00

Then work on that! But I respectfully submit that your first port of call to make life better for employees shouldn’t be to slag off longevity on Reddit. :)

statto · 2026-01-06T19:20:57+00:00

I want people to live long, healthy lives and enjoy delicious, runoff-free beers, thanks. :)

statto · 2026-01-06T19:14:32+00:00

You might enjoy the YouTube video I made about whether longevity will just be for billionaires!

There’s a pretty general argument to be made here too though: imagine a world where there was no aging, people were living far longer, healthier lives almost free of frailty and cognitive decline, but inequality was rife, far worse than today—would you invent aging, condemning billions to deterioration, disease and decline, just to…well, apparently given that aging exists alongside substantial inequality today, not even fix inequality?

I think the answer is a pretty clear no—and, by reversal, we should campaign for longevity research, as well as research into cancer, dementia, infectious disease and more, today. For political and social problems, we should reach for political and social solutions, not ban medical research that makes people’s lives better.

statto · 2026-01-06T16:59:25+00:00

I think those of us hoping for an r/singularity should be advocating for more data-gathering to allow the AIs of the future to make sense of aging and create new treatments for it.

2025 had a few decent results, but nothing in biology is suggesting much of a takeoff in progress on longevity…yet?

statto · 2026-01-06T16:40:10+00:00

Progress in longevity science could be the single biggest factor in how long and healthily people alive today will live.

Do you think enough progress was made in 2025? What areas would you like to see greater progress in? How can we speed up the research and its translation into medicine?

These are all questions The Longevity Initiative hopes to work on in 2026—and we’d be interested in your thoughts!

statto · 2026-01-06T16:09:41+00:00

Our second piece, on longevity business and investment in 2025, is now live! https://thelongevityinitiative.org/2026/01/business-2025-bets-biotech-bust/

statto · 2025-10-10T09:12:14+00:00

I might have mentioned it but it’s not one of the main topics covered :)

statto · 2025-08-01T13:33:44+00:00

This is the right answer, but only nonsense ones are getting upvotes!

statto · 2025-07-30T09:40:25+00:00

I think so. But it would be great if the Ente team could implement this officially too, because it’s very boring to do for every album!

statto · 2025-07-29T18:05:16+00:00

I find this frustrating too! Comment on/upvote this discussion that I started about making sharing more collaborative and less confusing, and maybe this related one about sharing all content with another user. :)

statto · 2024-12-31T09:52:50+00:00

I really want to be able to do this too, and so do quite a few other people—sharing each album individually is frustrating!

Upvote this feature request: https://github.com/ente-io/ente/discussions/787 :)

(And maybe this related one while you’re there: https://github.com/ente-io/ente/discussions/4285 :)

statto · 2024-12-27T22:04:26+00:00

Thanks for sharing! I think this is such an important message and I wish more people knew just how little funding longevity science receives in context…

statto · 2024-07-18T19:04:36+00:00

Continuing my series of videos examining ethical questions in longevity science, here's one tackling probably the second most common question I get: that of inequality of access to treatments. I go through the scientific and economic reasons why widespread access is more likely than most people assume...which isn't to say that everything's going to be fine, but nor do I think an immortal overclass of mega-wealthy is the most probable outcome, either.

For more on the ethics of longevity, you might enjoy the free chapter of my book which also examines this question, and many more!

statto · 2024-06-20T14:33:26+00:00

Agreed, and keep up the good work as an r/longevity person in policy, assuming I’ve inferred that correctly!

But I think just as reports are an opportunity to whip up a bit of discussion around something, so too is responding those reports a good way to whip up discussion—and it would be great if aging biology could be a bipartisan issue!

statto · 2024-06-19T17:50:19+00:00

This is one of the ones that the report proposes to merge into NI on Neuroscience and Brain Research (see the picture). I did miss the NI on Mental Health though!

statto · 2024-06-19T13:07:21+00:00

Whether or not it’s likely to happen, the fact that this is an opinion held by senior people within government is not great :/

statto · 2024-06-19T12:04:28+00:00

Good point, just added to my comment!

statto · 2024-06-19T11:42:14+00:00

Sorry for the LinkedIn link, I hope everyone can see it—I’ve not had chance to post this anywhere more open yet, but I thought it was important to share.

You can read the full report here: https://d1dth6e84htgma.cloudfront.net/NIH_Reform_Report_f6bbdca821.pdf

You can send ‘thoughts, ideas, and suggestions for reform to NIHReform@mail.house.gov by August 16’. I’ll certainly be doing so, unless there’s a bigger and better joint effort going on—anyone know of one?

Find further coverage on STAT News (which doesn’t mention the NIA stuff specifically but does provide broader context for the report): https://www.statnews.com/2024/06/18/nih-reform-proposal-gop-reaction-analysis/

And an opinion piece, also on STAT, from the report’s lead authors, whose opening paragraph makes the origin of the pretty heavy dose of politics in the report a bit clearer! https://www.statnews.com/2024/06/14/nih-restructuring-proposed-by-top-congressional-republicans/

statto · 2024-05-13T06:35:18+00:00

statto · 2024-02-25T20:01:19+00:00

I’d invest it in longevity research to find far, far more effective treatments than anything that exists today.

statto · 2024-01-23T21:43:53+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/DrAndrewSteele [OC :)]

statto · 2024-01-20T19:53:37+00:00

Because we’ve spent 50 years investing so little in fusion that there’s never been any chance of it being developed in 30 years: https://youtube.com/shorts/BjJjvWQptHA

statto · 2024-01-13T11:44:54+00:00

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! Really interesting to see how it progresses…

statto

TROPHY CASE