Hot mic moments are not uncommon in politics, and can give citizens a real insight into how their leaders think and feel.
A recent conversation recorded between Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un, without them knowin,g raised eyebrows as the three leaders discussed, very enthusiastically, the likelihood of living 150 years – or even achieving immortality.
But while this topic may sound like it belongs in the realm of science fiction, one scientist has claimed some of their ideas could be ‘viable’.
The Russian, Chinese, and North Korean leaders were chatting together through translators as they walked towards the historic Tiananmen Gate in Beijing.
Putin said: ‘With continuous advances in biotechnology, human organs will be increasingly transplanted — letting us live younger and younger, and perhaps even achieve immortality.’
Xi nodded encouragingly, adding: ‘In this century, it’s anticipated that it may be possible for people to live to 150 years old.
‘Earlier, people rarely lived to 70, but these days, at 70 years, you are still a child.’
Both Putin and Xi are 72 years old, with the Chinese president only nine months younger than his Russian counterpart.
Though Kim is only 41, he seems to share the same ambition as the Chinese and Russian leaders to keep hold of power for as long as possible.
And one scientist says the possibility of head transplants to keep someone alive for up to 150 years is much closer than the average person might think.
How realistic is a ‘head transplant’?
Alex Zhavoronkov, originally from Latvia but now based in China, is the founder of AI-powered drug discovery company Insilico Medicine.
Last month, he spoke at the world’s largest conference on longevity, held in Denmark, where almost 200 scientists spoke about techniques to improve our lifespans.
He told MailOnline there are numerous scientists ‘working on developing technologies for whole-body transplantation’ – and claimed young organ or whole-body transplantation, also known as ‘body replacement’, is a ‘viable strategy’ for extending life.
Educated in Canada and the US and with a PhD in physics from Moscow State University, Zhavoronkov financed an eight-minute video imagining how a human head transplant could work last year.
The body would come from a brain-dead young donor and the head of the older person seeking would be severed and surgically attached to the donor’s frame.
But head transplants aren’t the only method to turn back the clock in development.
How else could Putin look to extend his life?
Some companies are working on growing specific cells in a lab, in order to repair damaged organs.
Others are looking into ‘recellularisation,’ whereby the scaffolding of an existing organ is used, but with fresh tissue replacing the old.
Meanwhile, others are experimenting with ‘bioprinting’ – using a 3D printer to create organs, which can then be implanted into a human.
Putin’s interest in staying youthful is nothing new. Last year he announced the ‘New Health Preservation Techologies’ project in which he told researchers to work on ‘medical products aimed at reducing the burden of cellular aging’.
The Russian health ministry also ordered researchers to look into neurotechnology to prevent cognitive decline; ways to ‘correct the immune system based on critical markers identified in the aging process’; and bioprinting.
In 2022 the Russian government spent more than 57million rubles in bioprinting, and a year later a Russian company ‘printed’ skin directly onto an open wound, a world first.
But progress has stalled after many leading scientists fled the country after the invasion of Ukraine.
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