Hundreds of people recently gathered in Montenegro for two months to form the Zuzalu pop-up community. Their goal was to talk about biotechnological solutions for slowing down human aging and living longer. These proponents of long life are even planning to establish their own state to accomplish this.
Is Zuzalu yet another manifestation of the elite’s obsession with eternal youth? From March to May, hundreds of hand-picked people flocked to Zuzalu on Montenegro’s Adriatic coast, primarily biotech entrepreneurs, cryptocurrency investors, and scientific researchers. But you won’t be able to find this town on any map because it doesn’t exist.
Why Was Zuzalu Created?
This “pop-up city” was created entirely to allow members of this community to meet and mingle with one another. Behind the name Zuzalu is a community of “longevists” or “life extensionists” eager to defy death, or at least old age, by investing massive sums in biomedical research and science-fiction-like technological projects.
Vitalik Buterin, a Russian-Canadian computer programmer who became a billionaire by inventing the Ethereum protocol, which gave rise to the Ether cryptocurrency, Bitcoin’s main rival, is at the helm of this community.
During a series of conferences and more informal get-togethers over the course of two months, these “longevists” discussed biotech, medical innovation, and slowing the aging process.
According to photos posted on social media, the atmosphere appeared ultra-relaxed, with ultra-healthy breakfasts, yoga sessions, swimming, saunas, shorts and flip-flops. But don’t be fooled by the atmosphere of an ultra-rich vacation club — it’s all a ruse. The real goal of this two-month experiment is to see if this community can live together indefinitely.
Investing millions of dollars in biotechnology to extend life expectancy has limits for these “longevists,” namely the law. More specifically, the regulations that govern the pharmaceutical industry in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. “I’m sufficiently ultra-liberal… who am I to stop you from experimenting with a compound?” “We’re all adults, and if you understand what you’re doing and the risk, then do it,” says Josef Christensen, a Zuzalu attendee and the chief business development officer at stem-cell company StemMedical, in an interview with MIT Technology Review.
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