According to ILNA, citing Al Jazeera, Maria Vorontsova, the elder daughter of Vladimir Putin, is at the center of a scientific project in Russia whose goal is to increase human lifespan and confront aging; a costly plan that, alongside ambitious medical promises, has raised questions about the Kremlin's political motivations and the contradiction between preserving human lives and continuing the Ukraine war.
The British newspaper 'The Times' and the French 'Le Monde' also wrote in reports that Vorontsova, an endocrinologist and the head of the Research and Training Medical Institute of Moscow State University, supervises government anti-aging programs; programs that range from improving public health to the use of advanced technologies to increase lifespan.
This plan has two stages: first, increasing the average lifespan to 85 to 90 years through proper nutrition, physical activity, and regular medical care; and then trying to cross the natural limits of lifespan with the help of gene therapy, organ transplantation, and new medical technologies.
However, Vorontsova has acknowledged that the current results are limited and that achieving real progress may take 10 to 20 years. Some scientists also consider the maximum human lifespan to be around 125 years; a matter that shows the dream of immortality is still distant from scientific reality.
The Kremlin announced in the year 2024 the allocation of 26 billion dollars to the national health technologies plan; an investment part of which relates to the development of medical and biological technologies.
But what has made this project more controversial is Putin's position. The 74-year-old president of Russia can, based on the constitution, remain in power until the year 2036. Although there is no evidence to show that this program has been designed specifically to guarantee his political or personal survival, Putin's interest in increasing lifespan has drawn the media's attention to the link between science, power, and concern over the passage of time.
Meanwhile, Le Monde points to an obvious contradiction: Russia spends extensive resources on research to make life longer, while the Ukraine war continues to claim victims. The question is, if science one day can increase human life, who will benefit from this achievement?
Source: ILNA News Agency
