Russian Academician: Molecular and Genetic Medicine Could Extend Lifespan to 120 Years

MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/. An individual will be able to live up to 120 years thanks to new discoveries in molecular and genetic medicine, Academician Alexander Sergeev, the scientific director of the National Center for Physics and Mathematics, said in an interview with TASS at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

"Life expectancy surges are always associated with a new layer of technology. At the beginning of the 20th century, people lived for forty years, and by the 1960s they had reached seventy years due to the victory over epidemics and the advent of antibiotics. How do we get 120? Due to upcoming discoveries in molecular and genetic medicine. But at the same time, we must get rid of additional limiting factors. Unfortunately, a lifestyle has also been added to them: in pursuit of financial well-being, people in their twenties or forties undermine fundamental health," he said.

Academician Sergeev noted the importance of working with the younger generation.

"They are already accumulating factors that turn health into a disease early on. 120 years are not about treating diseases that have arisen, but about behaving correctly before they occurred. This is the key point," he said.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was held from June 3 to 6.