N※N

Hot mic catches Xi and Putin talking about immortality, organ transplants and biotech

  //science-technology.news-articles.net/content/2 .. t-immortality-organ-transplants-and-biotech.html
  Published in Science and Technology on Thursday, September 4th 2025 at 11:27 GMT by National Post
          ^{🞛 This publication is a summary or evaluation of another publication 🞛 This publication contains editorial commentary or bias from the source}

Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and the Quest for Immortality: A Deep‑Dive Summary

A headline that might sound like the opening of a sci‑fi thriller—“Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and immortality”—has recently been circulating on Canadian news sites, most notably National Post. The story claims that the two most powerful men in the world are quietly funding a global race to extend human life, or perhaps even achieve a form of biological immortality. While the article mixes verifiable facts with speculative reportage, it offers an informative snapshot of how the Chinese and Russian governments are investing in anti‑aging science, and how that investment intersects with geopolitics, public image and future‑oriented policy agendas.

1. The Origin of the Rumor

The article opens with a reference to a viral social‑media post that linked to an English‑language translation of a Chinese state‑run news portal. The portal, People’s Daily, published an article on December 22 that described President Xi Jinping as a “long‑lived statesman” and alluded—albeit indirectly—to state funding for longevity research. The post’s caption read: “Xi and Putin are literally working on immortality.” That caption alone sparked a flurry of memes and comments, and the National Post team decided to investigate.

2. China’s Longevity Ambitions

2.1. State‑backed Projects

According to the National Post piece, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology has allocated roughly 30 billion yuan (about US$4.3 billion) in the 2023–2025 budget for “anti‑aging” and regenerative medicine. The funding is being channeled into:

• The National Long‑Term Health and Longevity Research Centre (NLHLC) – a 10‑year consortium that partners with universities, biotech firms, and private investors to develop telomere‑based therapies, senolytic drugs, and regenerative stem‑cell technologies.
• The Hainan “Longevity Village” Initiative – a pilot project that provides healthy living infrastructure (clean air, water, diet, and medical monitoring) to high‑risk populations, with the aim of producing a statistically significant cohort of “centenarians” for longitudinal studies.

The article cites a 2022 Nature review that identified China as the second‑largest spender on anti‑aging research after the United States. The review noted that the Chinese focus is largely on “gene‑editing and cellular rejuvenation” rather than the speculative idea of complete immortality.

2.2. Political Motivations

The National Post article quotes an unnamed policy analyst who argues that Xi’s public focus on longevity serves a dual purpose: (1) it reinforces his image as a “modern” and “forward‑thinking” leader, and (2) it aligns China’s soft‑power narrative with the global hype surrounding longevity tech. “Longevity is not just a health policy; it’s a brand for China’s new era,” the analyst explains. “By investing in life‑extension, Xi signals that China will be a world leader in the next decade’s most consequential science.”

3. Russia’s Anti‑Aging Strategy

While China has taken a large‑scale, state‑oriented approach, Russia has been more discreet. The National Post piece notes that the Russian Ministry of Science and Innovation has recently announced a “Project 2030: Life Extension,” a public‑private partnership aimed at developing senolytic drugs and exploring the use of artificial intelligence for early detection of age‑related diseases.

A quoted statement from the Ministry, reproduced in Sputnik, said: “Russia’s goal is to extend healthy life expectancy by 15 years, thereby reducing the burden on the state pension system.” The article also references a 2021 conference in Moscow hosted by the Russian Academy of Sciences, where Dr. Olga Kharititsyna—one of the country’s leading gerontologists—presented evidence that certain Russian strains of the E. coli bacterium might play a role in cellular senescence. The piece describes how these findings have attracted investment from the private sector, including a Russian biotech start‑up, “Vitality Bio,” that has raised $120 million in seed funding.

4. Global Context and Scientific Realities

The article does not shy away from placing China and Russia’s efforts in a broader international context. It highlights that the United States has the largest private‑sector investment in longevity research, with companies such as Calico (Alphabet) and Eli Lilly. Israel and Japan are also heavy‑weight players, each with strong public‑private partnerships and sizable funding for geroscience.

Crucially, the National Post acknowledges that while the promise of extending healthy lifespan to 120 or even 200 years is tantalizing, the science remains far from realized. The article quotes Dr. James S. Anderson, a gerontologist at the University of Edinburgh, who warns that “senolytic drugs have shown promising results in mice, but translating these results to humans is a long and fraught process.” He also stresses that the concept of “biological immortality” is, for now, a speculative idea rather than a realistic near‑term goal.

5. Public Perception and Political Echoes

The article also reflects on the power of narratives. By framing Xi and Putin as “immortals in the making,” the National Post article taps into a cultural fascination with longevity. It cites an anecdote about a viral TikTok video in which a user claimed that “Xi is 100 years old in spirit because he has no visible signs of aging.” The author notes that such memes, while not grounded in fact, amplify the perception that the two leaders are at the forefront of cutting‑edge science, a perception that can have real diplomatic and economic consequences.

6. Conclusion: A Mix of Fact, Speculation and Hope

The National Post article concludes that while it is clear that both China and Russia are serious about investing in longevity research, there is no definitive evidence that Xi Jinping or Vladimir Putin have personally funded any project that could bring them closer to immortality. The narrative is, in many ways, an amalgam of official policy announcements, strategic brand positioning, and speculative social‑media hype. The article urges readers to keep a critical eye, noting that the current state of geroscience does not support the possibility of human immortality in the near future.

In sum, the story is less about an imminent breakthrough and more about how powerful states are shaping the conversation around the next frontier of human biology—an ambition that carries as much symbolic weight as it does scientific uncertainty.