Jun 1, 2026
Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, is part of a long line of billionaires trying to live longer lives — and he’s reportedly willing to put $26 billion toward doing so.
Last month, the Russian government announced the latest focus of their “New Technologies for Health Preservation” initiative: A gene therapy treatment the announcement called “a vaccine against aging.” The Russian Deputy Science and Higher Education Minister Denis Sekirinsky says the drug blocks the RAGE receptor, adding that, when that receptor is activated, it tells cells to start aging.
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“Blocking this gene, on the contrary, can prolong its youth,” he explained.
The New Technologies for Health Preservation Initiative, which was announced in 2024 and enacted in 2025, is designed to forward biotechnology research that slows or stops aging. It has a budget of $2 trillion rubles (or, at the time of writing, about $28.1 billion USD).
Here’s what Putin is putting money towards — along with more cost-effective methods anti-aging influencers are incorporating into their regimens.
Many of Putin’s anti-aging treatments lack scientific proof
In addition to its forays into gene therapy, Russian state scientists have also researched human organ transplants — something Putin was caught discussing with Chinese President Xi Jinping back in September.
His translator told Xi that biotechnology advances could allow people to “transplant human organs continuously, grow younger in age and perhaps even achieve immortality.”
According to Russian scientists, they’ve had some luck with bioprinting human organs, as well as growing human organs inside pigs. But there hasn’t been much peer-reviewed work on the topic published outside of Russia.
“If there are no publications then there are no real results, and their statements should probably be taken as aspirations, not to say dreams,” Alexander Ostrovskiy, a Russian scientist who played a key role in developing bioprinting in Russia before leaving the country, told the Wall Street Journal. “It’s impossible to do science in isolation.”
Key players in Russia’s longevity project — including Putin himself — have also promoted anti-aging treatments that aren’t as well-founded in scientific research.
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Vladimir Khavinson, a scientist who works closely with Putin, promoted peptide-based anti-aging treatments — much like the U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The word “peptides” refers to short chains of amino acids, and they are frequently used in medicine; for example, insulin is a peptide. But unregulated and potentially unsafe peptides have recently become more popular as a form of alternative medicine.
Putin has also spoken positively about cryotherapy chambers in the past. But the American Academy of Dermatology Association warns that “exposing your body to subzero temperatures for two to four minutes while nearly naked” can seriously injure you.
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You don’t need to break the bank to live a healthier life
Putin is part of a larger movement toward “biohacking,” or trying to optimize human biology through everything from lifestyle choices to science and technology. The movement, started by tech bros, has expanded to wellness influencers, longevity seekers and regular people trying to be healthy.
One such influencer is Bryan Johnson, an entrepreneur who spends $2 million a year on “Project Blueprint,” an anti-aging regimen, to reduce his biological age. He also sells $500 DNA kits and many different supplements to his followers who want his results.
Some of the things he does as part of that plan are unusual, including only eating from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. and experimenting with psychoactive mushrooms. But he recently released a list of “everything [he] learned spending millions on longevity.” Most of his tips won’t cost you anything to follow, and many line up with preexisting medical advice on how to live a long, healthy life.
His 41 tips mostly consist of standard advice: “Make an effort to drink water,” “Go to the dentist,” and “Get your heart rate high routinely,” for instance. A couple veer into medical advice that it would probably be wise to talk with a doctor about before acting on, such as, “If obese, look into a GLP.” And a few probably won’t hurt you, but might not help you, either: “Shoes off at the door,” and “Avoid long-distance travel where you can.”
Most of them fall into a few basic categories: Eat healthy, work toward getting ample sleep, and don’t do things that you know are bad for you, like smoking or drinking. If you’re already doing these things, you might already have an anti-aging routine without even knowing it.
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Kit Pulliam is a DC-based financial journalist with over five years of experience writing, editing, and fact-checking financial content.
