03/18/2024

The Keys to a Long Life Are Sleep and a Better Diet

Money helps, too

In one way or another, the super-rich have always been trying to extend their lives. Ancient Egyptians crammed their tombs with everything they would need to live on in an after-life not unlike their own world, just filled with more fun. In the modern era, the ultra-wealthy have attempted to live on through their legacies: sponsoring museums and galleries to immortalize their names.

Today’s elite take life-extension a lot more literally. Skipping neatly over the matter of Bryan Johnson’s nightly penis rejuvenation regime, billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Peter Thiel are sinking big money into the prospect of therapies to extend our mortal lives.

But how would one do that exactly? In his new book, Why We Die, Nobel Prize–winning biologist Venki Ramakrishnan breaks down the biology of aging to examine what potential humankind really has for life extension. Ahead of speaking at WIRED Health this month, Ramakrishan sat down with WIRED to talk about the scientists and charlatans of longevity, and where he thinks the most promising interventions are when it comes to extending lifespan. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Please select this link to read the complete article from WIRED.