I just met the founders of a would-be longevity state

My journey to Zuzalu wasn’t easy. My 3 a.m. practice to the airport was canceled, and my flight was delayed. The climate was too unhealthy to land the aircraft in Montenegro, so we have been diverted to neighboring Croatia. It took a taxi, a boat, and a golf buggy to get to my house on this “pop-up city community” in a resort on the shore of the Adriatic Sea.

Zuzalu is the brainchild of Vitalik Buterin, the creator of the cryptocurrency Ethereum. But the co-organizers of the occasion stress that it’s a collaborative endeavor. One of the organizers, Janine Leger, who works at the blockchain platform Gitcoin, says the workforce needs Zuzalu to be a decentralized neighborhood, with little to no hierarchy.

Only individuals who aren’t status-oriented have been invited, Leger informed me. People who didn’t slot in, or who bothered attendees, have been despatched packing. “There was a very high bar to entry and a low bar to exit,” she mentioned. As we talked, Leger made it clear she was not significantly blissful about my presence. When I requested her what the spotlight of the occasion was for her, she informed me it was the lack of media protection. I acquired the impression that Zuzalu, for all the purported lack of status-seeking, is a very unique occasion.

The resort itself is a luxurious growth that was constructed from scratch round a decade in the past. What was solely just lately a wild shoreline now contains round a billion euros’ value of flats and resorts organized over round 2.7 million sq. miles of land, principally steep hills.

Everything was extremely clear and felt very upmarket. I didn’t see a single piece of litter and even any bugs throughout my keep. The resort felt very a lot designed for the wealthy. Zuzalu attendees can get round utilizing free golf buggies, pushed by resort staff who could be summoned through WhatsApp.

I was just a customer to Zuzalu for a few days. The residents will keep for 2 months. Each week of the occasion has a completely different theme, starting from artificial biology to public items. I arrived in time for the longevity biotech convention.

There’s no agreed gown code at Zuzalu. Some folks have been strolling round in fits, others in shorts and flip-flops. But there have been a lot of folks carrying garments with logos, firm names, and slogans emblazoned on them. Everywhere I went, I noticed “Longevity” stickers that had been slapped on hats, luggage, tops, and laptops. I noticed folks carrying T-shirts that learn “Molecule,” “Say forever,” and “I sequenced and analyzed my genome. What about you?”

The convention itself featured talks on the promise of psychedelics, phages, lab-grown intercourse cells, and the partial reprogramming of cells to a youthful state. There was a actual combine of folks at the occasion, which attracted folks from the crypto and Web3 communities in addition to these devoted to wholesome longevity. In one session, the audio system requested the viewers how they’d describe themselves. A 3rd mentioned they have been entrepreneurs, and 19% mentioned they have been buyers. When folks have been requested the place they have been from, Russia was the hottest reply. 

Audience members have been additionally requested about their final objectives. Answers ranged from the earnest to the creepy; they included “saving my mom and dad” and “keeping women youthful and pretty.” One individual’s aim was to “build a unicorn,” and of course there was at the least one who wished to stay perpetually.

A pair of periods have been devoted to discussing what a new, longevity-focused state may appear like. Some individuals need to create a sovereign state the place like-minded people can be free to self-experiment with unproven therapies that they consider may assist them stay longer, more healthy lives. Some need to take away regulatory restrictions that they consider maintain again the growth of longevity therapies and gadgets. The drug approval course of we’ve got at the second is simply too gradual, they argue.

The organizers of Zuzalu informed me the occasion is an experiment, and so they plan to run comparable occasions in the future. One of the attendees mentioned it’s like a faith. Several others informed me it has been life-changing for them.

For me, Zuzalu supplied a fascinating glimpse into what appears like one other world. Keep a watch out for a longer piece on the occasion in the coming days.

Read extra from Tech Review’s archive

This isn’t the first time a group has sought to arrange a new state with the aim of fast-tracking technological progress. Laurie Clarke reported on how a biohacking firm took benefit of lax laws in a “cryptocity” in Honduras to check controversial gene therapies.

Last yr, I went to Switzerland to fulfill the folks investing tens of millions into the pursuit of a longer life. Here’s my on-the-ground report. (And there are extra particulars about the convention on this follow-up piece.)

Some researchers are specializing in their pets first. Meet the scientists working to increase the life span of canines—and ultimately people.

Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, just lately invested $180 million in a firm looking for a approach so as to add 10 years to people’ life spans, as my colleague Antonio Regalado reported.

Antonio has additionally written about the kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s plans to pump a billion {dollars} a yr, through its non-profit Hevolution, into analysis that focuses on methods to extend the quantity of wholesome years lived.

From round the net

Potentially harmful heavy metals are moving into child meals. Scientists are engaged on new applied sciences to maintain them out. (Undark)

Drug shortages in the US are reaching document ranges. The shortage of most cancers medication makes this a public well being emergency, in response to a president-elect of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology. (New York Times)

Politicians in the UK are debating whether or not to evaluation entry to psilocybin “in order to facilitate the development of new mental health treatments.” (UK Parliament)

Used disposable diapers might be recycled as a constructing materials. The waste may change as much as 8% of the sand in concrete and mortar used to construct a single-story home. (Scientific Reports)

Elizabeth Holmes has been ordered to report back to jail earlier than the finish of May. Holmes, who based the biotech firm Theranos, was discovered responsible final yr of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud in opposition to buyers. (The Washington Post)