Immortality (不老不死) means not aging or dying of natural causes, and it also includes the concept of being immortal (不死身), being able to withstand external factors such as injury, illness, blows, and pain without dying from them. On the other hand, if one does not age but can still die from accidents or illnesses, this is considered eternal youth and longevity (不老長寿).
Since ancient times, immortality has been considered and pursued as the ultimate dream in all fields, including science, medicine, and philosophy, in terms of avoiding physical death, achieving mental or conscious permanence, or ascending to an omniscient, omnipotent, and transcendent being.
Considering Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s (芥川龍之介, 1892-1927) statement in his essay collection “The Words of a Pygmy” (侏儒の言葉, 1923-1925) that the only emotion common to all people is the fear of death, it can be seen that wisdom and desires concerning immortality, which confront the fear of death, have been passed down through myths and legends since ancient times.
Incidentally, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) states that humans have a life drive (Lebenstrieb), which is the tendency toward life, and a death drive (Todestrieb), which is the opposite tendency toward death, and that humans live in a struggle between these two.
To add a little more, the life drive constantly aims to create and maintain a greater unity, and because it has the principle of constraint, it includes not only the stirrings of drives that are inhibited or sublimated, but also the self-preservation drive that the ego inevitably possesses. Therefore, it can be said to be the driving force that allows humans to maintain their own lives and carry out their daily activities. In contrast, the death drive aims to dismantle the collection and destroy things. It is the fundamental tendency of all organic life forms to return to an inorganic state. Since living beings originally arose from nothingness, they are inherently prone to death in order to return to that state of nothingness. Based on this, Freud concludes that the ultimate goal of all life is death. (ref., Sigmund Freud, “Beyond the Pleasure Principle,” 1920)
In fact, from Freud’s perspective, Akutagawa may have been tormented by guilt-ridden maternal love, self-reproach stemming from aggression, loneliness, and anxiety, which led him to commit suicide. On the other hand, the story of immortality, which has been passed down from ancient times as wisdom and a desire to confront the fears of all people, may have arisen and been accepted quite naturally for the sake of the survival of life.
The ancient Mesopotamian myth, the “Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 1300–1200 BC)”, tells the story of Gilgamesh, driven by a desire to transcend death, who journeys in search of the herb of immortality. During his quest, he confronts the unavoidable fate of death, and after finally obtaining the herb, loses it, shattering his dream of eternal life.
Gilgamesh, the hero who had defeated powerful monsters like Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven and was seemingly invincible, falls into a fear of death as an insurmountable enemy after the death of his close friend, Enkidu.
To escape his fear, Gilgamesh abandoned his throne, became ragged, and embarked on a journey to the ends of the earth, where he visited Utnapishtim, a wise man who had survived the Great Flood by sailing an ark and was granted eternal life by the gods.
Utnapishtim conveyed to Gilgamesh the harsh truth that humans are destined to die. However, taking pity on Gilgamesh, who had traveled such a long distance, he revealed a secret of the gods before their parting: the existence of a sacred plant, the “herb of immortality” (the herb that makes the old young, Shib-Issahir-Amer), growing quietly at the bottom of the freshwater sea ruled by Ea (Enki), the god of the abyss and wisdom, and that it was said to be impossible for any living human to reach.
This miraculous herb is said to be unable to reverse the fate of death, but it can rewind the aging body’s time, resetting it to its prime youth, effectively warding off aging and granting eternal escape from death by old age, making it the ultimate elixir.
Following Utnapishtim’s advice, Gilgamesh tied heavy stones to his feet and dove into the deep sea. His hands became bloody from thorns, but he succeeded in plucking the elixir.
Returning safely from the abyss to the surface, Gilgamesh trembled with joy, intending to take it back to Uruk, rejuvenate the elders, and then consume it himself. However, on his way back, while he was bathing, a snake, attracted by the sweet scent, silently crept up, snatched the elixir from the rock it had placed on, swallowed it whole, shed its old skin, and departed with a fresh, youthful body.
Disheartened by the theft of the elixir, Gilgamesh, through this despairing experience, accepts that immortality is impossible and comes to terms with death. He realizes that true immortality lies in leaving behind great achievements as King of Uruk, such as the construction of its walls, civilization, and stories that will be recounted forever.
In ancient China, around the end of the Zhou dynasty (周, around the 3rd century BC), the concept of immortality was expounded by alchemists (方士) of Yan (燕) and Qi (斉). Under the influence of Taoism, alchemy arose, with the aim of transcending this world as Xian (仙人 or 僊人, immortals), ascending to heaven, and living a life of seclusion deep within the mountains. They aspired to concoct and consume elixirs of immortality, to live in harmony with heaven and earth, and to achieve a life of freedom, including flight.
The art of longevity that stemmed from this was alchemy (煉丹術, rentan-jutsu), the art of transforming ordinary things into something else in the material and spiritual worlds, and its practice begins with external alchemy (外丹術, gaitan-jutsu), which involves creating elixirs of immortality. The basic ingredients of external alchemy included salt, sulfur, and cinnabar (辰砂, shinsha, also known as vermilion, 丹砂, tansha).
However, ultimately, the attempt to create an elixir of immortality failed, and alchemy subsequently evolved into internal alchemy (内丹術, naitan-jutsu), a philosophy that sought to achieve longevity through breathing techniques and health practices.
Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇, 259-210 BC) was the first emperor to unify ancient China and establish an absolute monarchy in 221 BC. His many achievements include the implementation of the commandery and county system, the standardization of weights and measures and currency, the unification of thought through the burning of books and burying of scholars (焚書坑儒, 213 BC), the repair of the Great Wall, and the construction of the Epang Palace and imperial tombs. Although the Qin dynasty expanded rapidly, a backlash against his oppressive rule grew, and the empire collapsed and fell within a few years after Qin Shi Huang’s death (206 BC).
As an aside, the movie HERO (英雄, 2002) is a story about Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇) and assassins. In the late Warring States period, the King of Qin (秦王, later the First Emperor, 始皇帝), who was being targeted by assassins, made the palace a vast, empty hall to prevent the assassins from entering, and kept no one within a hundred paces of him. One day, a local official named Wuming (無名, Nameless), carrying a spear and two swords, came to the palace and requested an audience, claiming to have defeated the strongest assassins of the time—Can Jian (残剣), Fei Xue (飛雪), and Chang Kong (長空)—who were trying to take the King of Qin’s life, and began to recount the events. The King of Qin was impressed and, as a reward for defeating the assassins, allowed Wuming to approach within 10 paces of him, but Wuming was a swordsman who had developed a technique called “Ten-Pace Kill (十歩必殺),” which allowed him to kill his opponent with certainty from a distance of 10 paces.
In each of the deadly battles between the assassins and Wuming, the scenery, atmosphere, buildings, and everything else present are unified in red, blue, white, and green, in line with the concept of the segment. Furthermore, the deadly battle scenes, in which martial arts masters leap through the air and race across the water’s surface as if defying gravity, evoke an image of sages (仙人, Xian, hermit, immortal wizard).
Let’s return to the topic of Qin Shi Huang’s elixir of immortality.
The First Emperor of Qin, as depicted in Sima Qian’s (司馬遷, c. 145/135 BC – c. 87/86 BC) Records of the Grand Historian (史記, completed between 92 and 89 BC), comes across as a ruthless tyrant and dictator who would stop at nothing to build his ideal state. However, considering that he constantly lived in fear of death, he might be considered more human than a transcendent being.
It is said that Qin Shi Huang, driven by a fear of death, attempted to find an elixir of immortality by any means necessary, employing alchemists at high prices and ordering local administrative bodies to search for it.
As evidence supporting overland exploration to the west, the Gari Tang Qin Inscription (尕日塘秦刻石), discovered in 2025 on a cliff face on the northern shore of Zhaling Lake in Qinghai Province, near the source of the Yellow River in the Tibetan Highlands at an altitude of 4,300 meters. The inscription, written in the small seal script (小篆書体) of the Qin Dynasty, reportedly indicates that in the 37th year of Qin Shi Huang’s reign (210 BC), an envoy was sent to the legendary sacred Kunlun Mountains (崑崙山脈) to collect elixir herbs.
On the other hand, Xu Fu (徐福), the crown prince of the state of Qi (which was destroyed by Qin Shi Huang), was a scholar and alchemist skilled in magic, prayer, medicine, astrology, and astronomy, and is known for leading the eastern sea route.
Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered Xu Fu to search for the elixir of immortality, said to be located on three sacred mountains (三神山) in the eastern sea. The three sacred mountains (三神山) are legendary islands in the eastern sea, known as Penglai (蓬莱, Hōrai), Fangzhang (方丈, Hōjō), and Yingzhou (瀛州, Eishu), where it was believed immortals lived and the secret to immortality resided.
Xu Fu set out for the three sacred mountains in 219 BC but failed to find it. In 212 BC, Xu Fu reported to Emperor Qin Shi Huang that the elixir could be obtained at Penglai (蓬莱), but was being hindered by a giant shark. In 210 BC, Xu Fu, leading a group of 3,000 people including boys and girls, set sail again for Mount Penglai (蓬莱山). After a long and arduous voyage, they are said to have arrived in the Kumano region of Japan.
The elixir of immortality that Qin Shi Huang had Xu Fu search for is said to be a mushroom called ròu língzhī (肉霊芝, nikureishi), which is considered an incarnation of the god Taisai (太歳). Legend says that the emperors of mythical times (Yellow Emperor, Yao, Shun, and Yu) all ate it and lived to be over 100 years old, leading to its subsequent search by emperors and other rulers.
This ròu língzhī (肉霊芝, nikureishi), also known as shìròu (視肉, shiniku), is actually Ganoderma lucidum (霊芝, reishi), a mystical mushroom with a glossy red or black cap, revered in ancient Chinese Taoist beliefs as an elixir of immortality. Even today, it is believed to have beneficial health effects and is prescribed as a traditional Chinese medicine.
In fact, Xu Fu is said to have discovered in Japan a plant called Tendai Uyaku (天台烏薬), an evergreen shrub of the laurel family with antioxidant properties, which is used as a herbal medicine. Furthermore, when Xu Fu inquired about elixirs of immortality from a mysterious immortal he met on Mount Kinnryu (金立山), the immortal showed him the contents of a boiling cauldron and then vanished like mist. It is said that the herb in the cauldron was what Xu Fu had been seeking—a medicinal herb called Furofuki, which, when brewed and drunk, is effective for stomach aches and headaches.
However, touched by the warm climate, beautiful scenery, and the kindness of the local people, Xu Fu and his group did not return to Qin but instead settled in Japan, cultivating fields and teaching the local inhabitants agricultural and fishing techniques, as well as whaling.
Xu Fu is said to have established a base in Suruga Province, at the foot of Mount Penglai (Mount Fuji), in the Fujikawa River basin, and to have brought with him knowledge of water management, sericulture, medicine (knowledge of the Tachibana, 橘), and the concept of immortals. This is believed to have formed the basis of the Tokoyo belief (常世信仰) that is passed down in this region, where it is said that wealth and longevity are bestowed, the poor become rich, and the old become young again.
As an aside, there is a theory that the ancient Jewish people, who fled ancient Egypt, migrated further east and settled in Yuzuki Province (弓月国) along the Silk Road. These people, considered to be descendants of the lost twelve tribes of Israel, then traveled from Yuzuki Province through Baekje (百済), and during the reign of Emperor Ojin (応神天皇, circa 390-430 AD), Yuzuki-no-kimi (弓月君) led people from 120 provinces to Japan, establishing their base in Uzumasa (太秦) and becoming the ancestors of the Hata clan (秦氏). To solidify their position within the imperial court, they gathered the descendants of Xu Fu, who had already established a position in Japan. In any case, theories surrounding the arrival of ancient Jews, the lost Ark of the Covenant, and the imperial family factions (the Hata clan, Tsuki clan, and Izumo tribe) are fascinating because they are formed by the intersection of various historical facts and the speculations derived from them.
Let’s return to the topic of Qin Shi Huang’s obsession with immortality.
Having acquired power and vast lands, Qin Shi Huang harbored resentment towards the irreversible passage of time and a constant fear of aging and death. Furthermore, as he grew older, he became acutely aware of his declining physical strength and the aging of his appearance, which drove him to the search for a way to live forever, to achieve immortality.
While the search for a secret elixir by Taoist immortals, alchemists, and the most knowledgeable scholars of the time, who were skilled in medicine, proved difficult, an alternative method was proposed to Qin Shi Huang by the alchemists: taking mercury as an elixir.
This is cinnabar (辰砂, shinsha), a red ore called mercury sulfide, which is a solid formed when mercury and sulfur combine. When heated in oxygen and reaches a certain temperature, it separates from the sulfur and becomes liquid mercury.
Incidentally, when this mercury is heated to 350 degrees Celsius, it undergoes oxidation by combining with oxygen, changing back into a reddish-black, sandy substance called red mercury deposit (赤降汞, sekikōkō), which can also become yellow mercury deposit (黄降汞, oukōkō)depending on the particle size.
Further heating of this red mercury deposit turns it black at 400 degrees Celsius, and at 500 degrees Celsius, it separates from oxygen and returns to mercury. In other words, when mercury sulfide is heated, it changes its form in a cycle: red solid (cinnabar, 辰砂) → silvery liquid (mercury) → red solid (red mercury deposit, 赤降汞) → silvery liquid (mercury).
Mercury, being a liquid at room temperature, shimmering with a silvery luster, and appearing to move while changing shape, was considered sacred at the time. Moreover, its anti-corrosion and antibacterial properties led the alchemists to believe it possessed the power to grant eternal life, and they presented it to Qin Shi Huang. With its mystical red color and fragrance, this medicine truly seemed like a symbol of immortality, and Qin Shi Huang apparently took it daily as an elixir, believing without a doubt that he was taking a step towards eternal life.
While it is now common knowledge that mercury, even in small amounts, accumulates and remains in the body, damaging nerves and organs, during Japan’s period of rapid economic growth after World War II, a mass outbreak of toxic neurological diseases occurred among residents who routinely consumed seafood contaminated with methylmercury compounds (organic mercury) discharged from chemical plants into the seas and rivers along the Yatsushiro Sea. Initially dismissed as an endemic disease by administrative agencies colluding with large corporations, this serious pollution-related illness was finally officially recognized as Minamata disease in 1956 due to the resulting social backlash. Other pollution-related diseases observed during this post-war economic growth period include Itai-itai disease caused by cadmium, and dermatitis and ulcers caused by soil contamination with hexavalent chromium.
Incidentally, today’s vaccines contain thimerosal (ethylmercury), an organic mercury that differs from methylmercury, the cause of Minamata disease, by one carbon atom, as a preservative. It has been confirmed that it can remain in the brain and accumulate. Furthermore, cadmium used in solar panels can dissolve, leading to soil contamination and raising concerns about its impact on nearby crops.
In any case, mercury ingestion had a serious impact on the body and mind of Qin Shi Huang, causing tremors in his limbs and memory loss, and lost his calm strategic mind, leading to mental isolation, extreme mood swings, brutality, and abnormal behavior. Moreover, as he sensed his impending death, he increased his mercury intake, accelerating the deterioration of all his organs.
Sima Qian’s Records of the Grand Historian states that a large amount of mercury was poured into Qin Shi Huang’s tomb to create the Milky Way and the seas. This can be seen as evidence of Qin Shi Huang’s obsession with protecting his tomb from excavation and seeking eternity.
In addition, in the West, alchemists devoted themselves to research in search of the Philosopher’s Stone, life-extending herbs, and secret elixirs; Christianity preached the eternal nature of the soul; and Hinduism and Buddhism have legends of elixirs of immortality (amrita) and immortal sages. Furthermore, many medicinal herbs such as ginseng and cordyceps are believed to have nourishing and longevity-promoting effects, suggesting that people have aimed for eternal youth and longevity through maintaining good health since ancient times.
Eternal youth and immortality (不老不死) or eternal life refer to living forever; eternal youth (不老) means that bodily functions do not decline with age or the passage of time; and immortality (不死) means not dying from external factors. While some simple life forms like bacteria are said to be immortal, the idea of
Furthermore, while amaranth in the West and pink in the East are considered colors symbolizing immortality, and methods of eternal life have been sought for a long time using magic and science, there is also the perspective that death defines all living things and is a natural part of life that should not be taken away.
Generally, as people grow older, they become dominated by scientific knowledge, begin to doubt the supernatural forces they felt in their childhood, and, coupled with the fact that the risk of dying from external factors in daily life has decreased due to advances in medicine and cutting-edge technology, the fear of death in daily life is said to fade, even though it remains unresolved.
Normally, all living things grow from the moment they are born, and once they reach a certain stage, they gradually decline, following a process of change and transformation that leads to death. In that sense, immortality can be described as an unchanging state of existence. In other words, being alive is essentially a state that follows a process of change and transformation along the irresistible course of time, and while immortality means not dying, it can also be said to be a state of not being alive (indistinguishable from being dead).
Since the state of immortality can be described as a state that transcends the flow of time or exists outside the concept of time, whether not being able to die or continuing to live is a blessing or a curse may depend on the circumstances, but it may mean living as an existence on a completely different dimension from living beings that exist in general society with the temporal finiteness of lifespan.
The legend of Urashima Tarō (浦島太郎), which originates from the legend of Urashima-ko (浦島小) recorded in several texts, including the Nihon Shoki (720 AD), before the end of the Nara period (奈良時代, 710-794 AD), depicts the sorrow of the protagonist who enjoys a feast in a world without time constraints and then returns to the real world.
Several versions exist, but the following is a summary of the plot:
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Urashima Taro is taken by a turtle he saved to the Ryugu Palace (竜宮) in the deep sea, where he is entertained by Princess Otohime (乙姫) and others. As Taro prepares to return home, he is given a treasure box (玉手箱, tamatebako), with the emphatic warning that he must not open it. Upon returning to his hometown, he finds that although he spent only a few days in the Ryugu Palace, a vastly longer period of 100 years has passed in the human world. The village landscape has completely changed, and no one he knows remains. Overwhelmed by a sense of loss and despair, Taro opens the treasure box. From within, a cloud of white smoke billows out, enveloping Taro completely, and he is transformed into a white-haired old man.
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There are probably many stories in which the characters become immortal, but that immortality actually becomes a hindrance when living in the present world, and this is another one of them.
In “Sibyllan” (1956), a novel by the Swedish author and Nobel laureate Pär Lagerkvist (1891-1974), a prisoner known as the Son of God, carrying a cross, tries to lean against a house for a brief rest. However, the homeowner, fearing misfortune, refuses to let the prisoner lean and urges him to leave immediately. As a result, the homeowner is cursed with immortality, unable to find peace and destined to wander forever, and seeks advice from the renowned old woman of sibyl.
The homeowner pleads with Sibylla to return to his former self and live a life indistinguishable from others. The homeowner’s immortality is a tragic ordeal brought upon him against his will, but perhaps being allowed to live forever in this worldly dimension is more likely to lead to misfortune than happiness or joy.
In fact, whether it’s Urashima Taro or Sibyllan’s homeowner, even if they attained immortality that defies the flow of time, as long as they live in a society with a predetermined lifespan, they would still feel a sense of loneliness as they are left behind by the changes and transformations around them. Conversely, in the real world, the very fact that life is finite is what drives them to search for and deepen the meaning of life, leading to a realistic feeling of being and a sense of dynamism.
The following two factors are well known to cause aging:
* Aging that is inherently programmed and difficult to counter biologically.
* Aging accelerated by the expression of harmful genes after maturity.
Incidentally, even if one were physically immortal, it is said that actuaries have calculated that, due to the accident rate, the average lifespan would remain at 400 years, and ultimately everyone would die in a fatal accident, making it extremely rare to encounter someone over 800 years old.
In any case, the aging of individual cells begins immediately after birth, and they divide up to a maximum of approximately 50 times. However, so-called senescent cells, which have divided to their limit, have their proliferative capacity controlled so that they cannot return to their original state. Therefore, unlike in youth, the process of removing dysfunctional cells and replacing them with new ones does not begin again, and as we age, the rate at which cells are replaced slows down or they become unable to be replaced at all, leading to a decline in tissue function and a gradual progression of aging.
Furthermore, it is believed that the function of mitochondria within cells, which play a crucial role in energy production, declines with age, leading to increased fatigue and reduced recovery ability.
The following are some of the physical effects that aging brings:
* Nervous System:
Cognitive function declines due to cerebral atrophy, a decrease in brain cells, and decreased activity of neurotransmitters. It is estimated that approximately 10% of people over 70 and 50% of those over 90 develop dementia due to cognitive decline.
* Cardiovascular System:
Left ventricular hypertrophy, coronary artery sclerosis, and decreased maximum cardiac output during exercise increase the risk of myocardial infarction, cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure, and hypertension.
* Respiratory System:
A decrease in the number of alveoli and a decrease in lung elasticity can lead to a decline in respiratory function.
* Digestive System:
Aspiration pneumonia due to decreased chewing and swallowing ability, constipation and bowel irregularities due to decreased gastrointestinal motility, and reflux esophagitis due to reflux of stomach contents into the esophagus.
* Renal and Urinary System:
Glomerular loss, decreased renal blood flow, and decreased filtration rate can increase nocturnal urine volume and induce urinary incontinence.
* Skeletal System:
This can lead to osteoporosis and fractures due to decreased bone mass and density, as well as arthritis due to decreased joint fluid and reduced synovial elasticity, sometimes resulting in being bedridden.
While the passage of time is universal and chronological age increases at a constant rate, there are individual differences in growth rates until maturity and in the rate of aging of tissues and cells within the body. However, it is a fact that bodily functions such as immunity and metabolic function gradually decline after maturity, meaning that aging must be accepted as an unavoidable process. However, taking appropriate measures such as a healthy diet can sometimes slow down the aging process.
Aging is believed to progress through a complex interplay of genetics, lifestyle, and environmental factors, and the main causes and countermeasures include the following:
Oxidation of cells by reactive oxygen species:
Reactive oxygen species are compounds that naturally occur in the body, but when excessive, they can damage cells, cause functional decline, and accelerate the aging process. Respiration, exhaust fumes, cigarette smoke, ultraviolet rays, strenuous exercise, and mental stress increase reactive oxygen species, promoting cellular oxidation and causing phenomena recognizable as aging, such as wrinkles and sagging skin and decreased organ function. However, a diet containing antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin E, and polyphenols, along with appropriate lifestyle habits, can help mitigate the effects of reactive oxygen species on aging.
* Accumulation of AGEs due to glycation:
Glycation is a phenomenon that occurs when sugars and proteins in the body combine. The advanced glycation end products (AGEs) produced during this process damage cells and accelerate aging. When blood sugar levels rise rapidly, AGEs are more likely to be produced, which can contribute to arteriosclerosis and dementia.
Moderately limiting carbohydrate intake, maintaining a balanced diet, and combining this with exercise—which is effective in stabilizing blood sugar levels and suppressing AGE production—can help slow the progression of aging.
* Genetic factors:
Genetic factors are involved in the rate of aging.
Longevity genes have cell repair and antioxidant effects, which help suppress the progression of aging. Therefore, consuming foods rich in antioxidants and maintaining regular lifestyle habits are essential to maintain and support longevity genes.
* Decrease in Growth Hormone:
Growth hormone plays a crucial role in bodily growth and repair, but its secretion decreases with age, inducing various aging-related phenomena such as decreased skin firmness and elasticity, and muscle weakness.
Maintaining growth hormone secretion requires regular lifestyle habits and moderate exercise such as strength training.
Compared to the past, it is said that in recent years, due to improvements in nutritional balance and health status, as well as scientifically-based countermeasures, the average skin condition of modern people is far better than it was a generation ago, and the rate of aging has slowed down. However, it is inevitable that phenomena such as visible changes like increased wrinkles and loss of elasticity in the skin, limitations in daily activity capacity due to muscle loss called sarcopenia, and decreased function of major organs such as the heart, lungs, and kidneys, leading to poor blood circulation and fatigue, and difficulty breathing and decreased physical strength due to decreased lung function will eventually occur.
Furthermore, aging may also have an impact on daily life.
* Increased risk of lifestyle-related diseases:
The risk of lifestyle-related diseases can increase due to the impact on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, such as the progression of arteriosclerosis and hypertension, which increases the risk of myocardial infarction and stroke, and the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) due to decreased respiratory function.
* Cognitive decline: A decrease in nerve cells in the brain and cerebral atrophy, which contribute to cognitive decline, can lead to decreased memory and concentration, making it difficult to learn new information.
* Reduced quality of life: Physical and psychological changes can reduce the quality of life. Decreased muscle strength and organ function, along with the effects of stress, can lead to increased limitations on daily activities, social isolation, and decreased motivation.
In any case, immortality would make life in this world difficult, and aging is inevitable in a world with a limited lifespan. For ordinary people, the best way to cope with the fear of aging may be to diligently and proactively choose, carefully organize, and practice how to support one’s health and age gracefully through daily life.
Meanwhile, in the fields of science, medicine, and advanced technology, research and development are underway to extend lifespan and healthy lifespan by measuring aging, rejuvenating cells, removing senescent cells, and replacing organs with younger ones. These methods include elucidating the mechanisms of cellular aging, pharmacologically regulating signaling pathways related to longevity, stem cell therapy, tissue regeneration through partial cell reprogramming using gene editing (CRISPR) and Yamanaka factors (OSKM, iPS cells), removal of senescent cells, cryopreservation, and mind uploading via brain scans.
Incidentally, iPS cells are stem cells in which pluripotency has been artificially induced. A group of factors called reprogramming factors are introduced into cells from the body, artificially returning the cells to an undifferentiated state and inducing pluripotency. Professor Shinya Yamanaka successfully created human iPS cells in 2006.
The reprogramming factors are four transcription factors called Yamanaka factors, collectively known as OSKM: Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc. These factors suppress the molecular networks of all somatic cell types and can reconstruct a new molecular network of pluripotent stem cells. This allows for the cultivation of cells while maintaining an undifferentiated state.
During a military parade held in Beijing in September 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping conversed about aging and death. President Putin stated that biotechnology is constantly advancing and that human organs can be transplanted repeatedly, so the longer one lives, the younger one will become, and eventually, immortality will be achieved. President Xi responded by saying, “There are predictions that people will be able to live to 150 years old within this century.” President Xi responded by saying, “There are predictions that within this century, people will be able to live to 150 years old.” This is seen as evidence that the pursuit of immortality and longevity by those in power has moved beyond the realm of alchemical fantasies and is progressing as a solid scientific project, driven by enormous national budgets, private capital, and the world’s best minds.
Russia has a history of needing to prevent the biological decline caused by the aging of its top leadership in order to maintain power. In the Soviet era, scholars such as Vladimir Kavinson argued that extending the lifespan of leaders to 120 years could prevent political instability, and promoted peptide-based anti-aging treatments derived from animal tissue, which are said to have influenced the current Kremlin longevity targets. Furthermore, securing the lifespan and healthy lifespan of the population is considered a matter of national survival in order to preserve and maintain the base of the workforce and military. These political and demographic factors have been integrated into a national project called New Health Maintenance Technologies, and it is said that research and development of anti-aging is being promoted as one of the top priorities.
The director of the Kurchatov Institute, Mikhail Kovalchuk, has spearheaded this project under a unique vision that fuses ideology, science, and national security, positioning longevity research as part of a civilizational struggle with the West (or rather, the oppressed classes). He is also known for developing concepts such as the development of genetic weapons as biological weapons targeting specific ethnic groups, and the creation of “servant humans” with low self-awareness abilities raised on genetically modified foods.
In fact, Kovalchuk led the Russian Genome Project, which uses state-of-the-art sequencing equipment to decipher 100 billion base pairs—approximately 30 times the size of a standard genome—and is said to function not only as a medical research tool for longevity but also as a means of national ideological governance.
The Russian longevity project is said to rely on several advanced biotechnologies.
* 3D Bioprinting:
Cell-based 3D bioprinting is a core technology for achieving continuous organ replacement. Led by the nuclear company Rosatom, it has developed scaffoldless biofabrication technology to create highly biocompatible tissues from a patient’s own cells. Using a magnetoacoustic bioprinter and bioreactor, they have succeeded in growing functional blood vessels 2 centimeters long, and by 2030, they plan to fully print complex organs such as the thyroid, kidneys, and liver.
* Cryotherapy and Anti-Aging Vaccines:
Cryotherapy is a program that suppresses metabolism through cryotherapy. Furthermore, the development of anti-aging vaccines that target the RAGE receptor, which is involved in cellular changes due to aging, and aim to keep cells youthful is also progressing, and it is considered one of the promising approaches to extend cellular youthfulness.
China’s national key research and development plan includes special projects focused on proactive health and technological solutions to population aging. Based on the philosophy that extending healthy lifespan—the ability to live independently without illness—rather than simply increasing life expectancy, is crucial for preventing the collapse of the social security system and maintaining socio-economic stability in an aging society, the proactive health project, so-called Active Health, shifts the medical paradigm from passive disease treatment to proactive prevention and health promotion. It centers on four pillars: nutrition, sleep, exercise, and medical care, employing a comprehensive approach using personalized medicine and advanced technologies to continuously intervene in health conditions.
Leading institutes in genomics and precision medicine, leveraging their overwhelming data collection and genome analysis capabilities, have built a comprehensive database (HALL) that integrates research on aging and longevity. This database stores vast amounts of information on biomarkers that measure the trajectory of aging, enabling the development of diagnostic tools for age-related diseases and targeted interventions to promote longevity.
Furthermore, the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology uses liquid chromatography and high-resolution mass spectrometry to analyze changes in the blood metabolome and the mechanisms of decline in multi-organ function during the aging process on a multiscale basis, and also analyzes the anti-aging activity of nematodes using specific plant extracts such as goji berries.
Meanwhile, in Western countries such as the United States, private investment in the field of longevity biotechnology is rapidly expanding. Silicon Valley tech giants and others are promoting research and development aimed at longevity, aging, and overcoming death, including epigenetic reprogramming, senolytics to remove senescent cells, mitochondrial rejuvenation, the oral drug RTR242 to reactivate autophagy, autologous iPSC-derived hematopoietic stem cell therapy, epigenetic reprogramming of human genes aimed at rejuvenating the immune system, ER-100, a cell rejuvenation therapy targeting optic nerve damage (glaucoma, NAION), the small molecule TRPML1 agonist LW-1017 to restore autophagy function in cells targeting Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, and the development of senolytics drugs that selectively remove senescent cells.
Megapharmaceutical companies are also developing longevity drugs that target the underlying biological processes of age-related diseases. Clinical trials of GLP-1 receptor agonists, which are used to treat diabetes and obesity, have shown various benefits, including not only weight loss but also suppression of chronic inflammation, a major mechanism of aging, reduction of cardiovascular risk, improvement of fatty liver disease, protection of kidney function, and neuroprotective effects on the brain in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
Some megapharmaceutical companies are collaborating with AI-related companies to conduct research and development on drug discovery demonstrating the anti-aging effects of exercise, and technologies to decipher human aging mechanisms from large-scale multi-omics data and predict diseases decades in advance.
The U.S. government has set a goal of extending healthy life expectancy by 20 years and, through the Department of Health and Human Services, is working on developing an intrinsic capacity score and home test kits that will be a composite index predicting death and the onset of multiple diseases over a 20-year period by analyzing physiological data from wearable devices and large-scale health data. They are also conducting clinical trials to suppress the decline of physical and mental functions through combination therapy with immunosuppressants and other drugs.
Regarding organ transplantation, there are risks such as shortened lifespan and fatal side effects due to lifelong administration of immunosuppressants, as well as ethical debates about whether it is for saving the lives of patients with organ failure or for avoiding aging and extending lifespan. Approaches have also emerged that involve directly modifying the genes of organs within the body to give them complete resistance to infection or to continuously secrete anti-aging proteins, as well as the concept of cultivating a bodyoid, a clone body without a brain, in an artificial womb using the patient’s own cells and using it as an organ donor that does not cause rejection.
In addition, in xenotransplantation technology, since transplanting pig organs directly into humans causes hyperacute rejection, pigs have been developed that undergo tenfold gene editing using CRISPR technology to knock out harmful genes in the pig, insert human genes, and further inactivate endogenous pig retroviruses.
Epigenetic reprogramming, a field being researched and developed by Silicon Valley companies, utilizes four transcription factors—Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc—discovered by Professor Shinya Yamanaka in 2006, collectively known as OSKM or Yamanaka factors. This technology aims to reset the epigenetics of aging cells, including DNA methylation patterns that control gene on/off switching, thereby promoting telomere elongation and mitochondrial function recovery, and rewinding cells to a youthful state. Currently, the main focus is on using three of the factors, OSK (excluding c-Myc, which carries a high risk of cancer), and introducing them into the body using vectors such as adeno-associated viruses. The goal is to stop factor expression just before complete dedifferentiation of the cells, thereby achieving rejuvenation while preserving the cellular identity.
In any case, the pursuit of immortality and life extension through modern chemistry, medicine, and advanced technology has moved beyond the realm of delusion, like the alchemy of the past, and can be said to be rapidly growing and evolving as a historical paradigm shift that redefines physiological and natural phenomena, once considered inevitable, as treatable and intervenable diseases.
In the past, the political systems of communist states such as the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China, as seen with Leonid Brezhnev (1906-1982), Konstantin Chernenko (1911-1985), Mao Zedong (1893-1976), and the Eight Elders (from the 1980s to the 1990s), were characterized by a gerontocracy, where power and generational change stalled. Socially, this led to the monopolization of wealth, power, and status by the elite, resulting in cultural rigidity and stagnation of technological innovation. Even today, there are concerns that increased life expectancy due to technological advancements could solidify the rule of the elderly, potentially leading to a semi-permanent dictatorship.
Furthermore, as can be seen from the semi-compulsory administration of mRNA vaccines introduced during the 2019 bacterial outbreak, there is a risk that the system may disregard individual consent and access or modify innate DNA, potentially undermining the very existence of a person as a biological organism. Conversely, even if anti-aging technologies are confirmed to be harmless to the human body and everyone desires their benefits, there is no guarantee that the developed technologies will be fairly distributed throughout society. Inequality may arise where only the ruling class, elites, or those subservient to the ruling class are allowed to benefit.
In fact, given that the introduction of social credit scores is shifting society as a whole toward restricting ordinary people’s access to goods and services, it can be inferred that the pursuit of immortality and life extension through science, medicine, and advanced technology will function not only for the purpose of avoiding the biological fate of aging, suppressing aging, and maintaining health, but also as part of a population reduction strategy and governance of the common people based on the agreement of the ruling class, aimed at strengthening governance and control through a strict surveillance society, introducing digital IDs to manage individuals’ lifespans and deaths based on their degree of obedience to power, and perpetuating power through fear.
In any case, immortality and the manipulation of lifespan, once considered inevitable natural phenomena, are transforming into diseases that can be treated and intervened for.
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Sources and references:
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