Jury of expert academics declares Dr. Peter Fedichev the winner, citing stronger evidence for halting aging versus rejuvenation

SAN FRANCISCO, June 12, 2024 – A landmark debate titled "How to Defeat Aging," held at the Foresight Institute on May 27, 2024, produced an unexpected winner, uncovering a far more nuanced narrative behind the recent surge of interest to rejuvenation biotechnology. The event pitted two leading scientists against each other, each offering contrasting perspectives on the future of aging research.
The debate was organized by Open Longevity, a nonprofit working on the development of effective and affordable solutions to the aging problem for the benefit of all humanity. The idea of the new format was proposed by Misha Batin from OL, and the event is planned as one of a series of public debates designed to put the spotlight on unresolved questions and the most important scientific disagreements with the goal of accelerating progress.

Dr. Aubrey de Grey, president and chief science officer of the Longevity Escape Velocity (LEV) Foundation, a renowned advocate for rejuvenation therapies, passionately argued that aging is a process caused by accumulated damage, which could potentially be repaired through targeted interventions. His SENS (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) proposal has become and remains the rallying cry for the emerging biotech industry developing a comprehensive set of therapies with the aim of periodic repair of various types of age-related damage, envisioning the possibility of radical life extension and the delaying age-related diseases.

Dr. Peter Fedichev, CEO of Gero.ai, one of the thought leaders in longevity and another proponent of radical biotech solutions to the aging problem, who applies quantitative models of human aging, challenged de Grey’s optimistic view on rejuvenation. Dr. Fedichev emphasized the inherent limitations posed by the stochastic (random) and thermodynamically irreversible nature of human aging.
Dr. Fedichev instead presented a strong case about the limitations of even the best experimental approaches for human rejuvenation, suggesting it might offer only around 10-15 additional years of lifespan at best. According to Fedichev, with current technologies, we have the potential to double our lifespan—or even live for hundreds of years—by focusing on halting aging instead, following the inspiring examples of negligibly senescent animals, including mammals such as naked mole rats and some species of bats. Achieving this goal, however, will require completely different therapeutic targets, drugs, and biomarkers than those used by most of the longevity industry to achieve rejuvenation effects. Gero is developing therapy aimed to halt aging. Dr. Fedichev’s position is based on his Theory of Aging, presented in a series of publications starting from 2015, and confirmed and developed by the subsequent research by Gero and other scientists (2024).

The debate, which was judged by prominent academic experts and live-streamed on YouTube, captivated the onsite audience for nearly three hours. When the debate concluded, the jury declared Dr. Fedichev the winner — albeit by a narrow margin of 42 to 38 points. He was awarded the cash prize of $10,000.
“To defeat aging, we need to understand what aging is. A bad theory is better than no theory since a bad theory may still provide you with interesting edge cases—possible experiments leading to its own invalidation and hence to a better theory with even more challenging edge cases,” said Dr. Peter Fedichev. “People often say aging needs its Manhattan or Apollo project. The truth is that both kinds of projects got underway after scientists mastered the underlying theories so well that they were able to estimate the parameters—from masses and sizes to timelines and costs—with no more than one order of magnitude error. Aging will be stopped only when our theoretical understanding matches this level.”
“I greatly enjoyed debating the feasibility of radical life extension with Peter Fedichev. Our discussion highlighted the urgent need for more experiments to determine the reversibility of information-based aging, such as epigenetic noise,” said Dr. Aubrey de Grey.

This debate aimed to spark a renewed discussion within the scientific community and the public sphere regarding the most promising strategies for addressing the challenges and opportunities presented by an aging population. As the field of longevity research continues to evolve, this debate serves as a crucial milestone, highlighting the complexities and nuances of this critical area of scientific inquiry.
The argument presented by Dr. Aubrey de Grey

Aubrey de Grey argued in favor of the feasibility and potential of rejuvenation therapies to reverse aging and achieve radical life extension. His key points included:

1. Aging is a phenomenon caused by the accumulation of various types of molecular and cellular damage over time. This damage is theoretically repairable through the development of comprehensive rejuvenation therapies targeting each specific form of damage.
2. He outlined his SENS (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) approach, which identifies seven major categories of aging damage and proposes potential therapies to periodically repair or remove that damage. This includes addressing issues like cell loss, nuclear mutations, mitochondrial mutations, and other biological processes.
3. De Grey argued that once these rejuvenation therapies are developed and applied periodically, they could allow people to maintain a physiological age of around 25 indefinitely, thereby escaping age-related diseases and achieving radical life extension.
4. He cited the rapid progress in fields like gene therapy, stem cell therapy, and other regenerative medicine approaches as evidence that the required therapies for rejuvenation are becoming increasingly feasible.
5. De Grey challenged the notion that “informatic" aspects of aging will make radical life extension impossible in the near future, arguing that nearly all such information can be recovered by existing methods.
6. He emphasized the importance of pursuing rejuvenation research more aggressively, as even modest progress could significantly extend the healthy human lifespan and alleviate suffering caused by age-related diseases.

In summary, Aubrey de Grey's main argument centered around the idea that aging is a phenomenon caused by accumulated damage that can be repaired through the development of comprehensive rejuvenation therapies, potentially allowing for radical life extension and the indefinite postponement of age-related diseases.
The argument presented by Dr. Peter Fedichev
Peter Fedichev argued that aging in humans is not a single process with a definite set of regulators that could be used as therapeutic targets. Instead, it is a compound effect of a very large number of independent microscopic failures and as such is stochastic (random) and thermodynamically irreversible. If this is true, it imposes significant limitations on the potential effectiveness of rejuvenation therapies. His key points included:

1. Stochastic Nature of Aging: Fedichev emphasized that aging is driven by random (stochastic) independent microscopic processes that lead to the accumulation of damage over time. This randomness and overwhelming quantity of manifestations of aging makes it inherently difficult to predict and control the aging process through targeted interventions.
2. Thermodynamic Irreversibility: He argued that certain types of damage associated with aging are thermodynamically irreversible, meaning that they cannot be fully repaired or reversed without achieving full control over all molecular processes in the body, which we are very far from technologically. This challenges the notion that comprehensive rejuvenation therapies can turn aging around.
3. Limitations of Rejuvenation Therapies: Fedichev suggested that while rejuvenation therapies demonstrated so far might offer some benefits, they are unlikely to achieve radical life extension. He estimated that such therapies might only extend human lifespan by around 10-15 years at best, due to the inherent limitations imposed by the stochastic and irreversible nature of aging.
4. Focus on Practical Interventions: He advocated for a more pragmatic approach to aging research, focusing on the development of interventions that can prevent irreversible damage and in this way slow down or even halt human aging. This is, according to Fedichev, the only realistic approach that may yield dramatic life extension in our species with the technology we already have.
5. Importance of Understanding Aging Mechanisms: Fedichev highlighted the need for a deeper understanding of the fundamental mechanisms driving aging. He called for developing a theory of aging up to standards attained in physical and engineering sciences and argued that without this level of understanding, it is challenging to develop effective interventions that can significantly impact the aging process.

In summary, Peter Fedichev's main arguments centered around the idea that aging is driven by stochastic and thermodynamically irreversible processes, which impose significant limitations on the potential effectiveness of rejuvenation therapies. He advocated for a more pragmatic and yet comparatively radical approach to life-extension, aiming at slowing down and or even halting human aging to achieve negligible senescence of the type already known to nature and demonstrated by negligibly senescent animals. If we could halt aging at the point where the likelihood of dying each year is the same as that of a 40-year-old in developed countries (0.5% annually), the expected remaining lifespan would be 200 years.
More details about the contestants, their background, research pipeline, positions, and contributions are available on the Open Longevity website.

“The battle against aging hinges significantly on funding, controlled by those who allocate it. Currently, many donors have their own 'pocket' scientists, pushing their viewpoints while hindering others from receiving essential funds,” said Misha Batin, CEO and co-founder of Open Longevity. “At the same time, for years, various theories of aging have coexisted peacefully, with proponents publishing papers, receiving grants, starting companies, and maintaining cordial relationships. However, we now face a postmodern situation where gerontologists rarely critique each other's approaches, leading to a stagnation in progress. Open debate is crucial to addressing these critical questions, setting future research trends, and helping develop effective solutions. Radical differences in opinion present opportunities for breakthroughs. This is why we propose organizing dozens of public debates. By making the fight against aging more transparent, we hope to elevate the Longevity field and accelerate progress in the fight against death.”

Where to learn more about the debate

• Playback of the debate, along with a transcript is here.
• An edited version of the debate, with the speakers’ presentation material, is here.
• Photos of the event are here.

About Open Longevity

Based in Silicon Valley, Open Longevity is a community-driven organization dedicated to extending human life through rigorous scientific research and innovative technology. Our work spans multiple initiatives, including the Open Genes Database, which aids researchers in understanding the genetic factors of aging and SayForever!, a global campaign advocating for a future free from aging. We also manage First Approval, a secure platform that accelerates scientific discoveries by enabling seamless data sharing among researchers. Our projects are supported by collaborations with leading scientists and institutions worldwide, aiming to transform the approach to age-related diseases and life extension. Open Longevity's mission is to challenge the conventional views on aging, promoting a future where radical life extension becomes commonplace. To join us in redefining the boundaries of human lifespan, visit openlongevity.org.

About Gero

Based in Silicon Valley, Gero is a preclinical-stage drug discovery company with research and development operations in Singapore and Europe. Gero leverages complex systems physics, generative AI, extensive medical records (over 10 million), genotypes, and rich molecular data to train a large health model (LHM) and develop therapies targeting aging and age-related diseases. The company’s unique approach unites complex dynamic systems physics with advanced generative AI to revolutionize drug discovery, emphasizing the irreversible nature of aging while identifying top targets for transformative therapies.Gero made several critical discoveries in aging and drug discovery, and its published articles have been covered in Science, Nature Communications, Scientific American, and Popular Mechanics. Gero is using its drug discovery platform for in-house projects and in collaborations with pharmaceutical companies, including one with Pfizer. Gero collaborates with top-tier researchers from institutions such as Harvard Medical School, MIT, and the National University of Singapore. The company has developed the world’s first mRNA anti-aging vaccine, based on its successful rejuvenation experiments in mice, and has identified transformative "pipeline-in-a-pill" targets across 40 disease clusters. To learn more, visit Gero.ai.
About Longevity Escape Velocity Foundation

The Longevity Escape Velocity (LEV) Foundation exists to conduct and inspire research to proactively identify and address the most challenging obstacles on the path to the widespread availability of comprehensively effective treatments to prevent and reverse human age-related disease. LEV is conducting and funding various initiatives like Robust Mouse Rejuvenation study, the first attempt to detect synergistic benefits of various combinations of treatments, each of which has existing evidence suggesting the potential to extend healthy lifespans; Transplants on Demand, - vitrification technology to enable true "off-the-shelf" organ replacement and several advocacy & education initiatives.To learn more, visit www.levf.org

About the Foresight Institute

Foresight Institute is a research organization and non-profit that supports the beneficial development of high-impact technologies. Since our founding in 1986 on a vision of guiding powerful technologies, we have continued to evolve into a many-armed organization that focuses on several fields of science and technology that are too ambitious for legacy institutions to support. From molecular nanotechnology, to brain-computer interfaces, space exploration, crypto-commerce, and AI, Foresight gathers leading minds to advance research and accelerate progress toward flourishing futures. To learn more, visit foresight.org.

This is the most important event in longevity in 2024 and one of the most crucial conversations in our field to date. The Nobel Prizes, most of the hype and investment, and humanity's hopes for radical life extension currently revolve around rejuvenation.

Aubrey de Grey is an influential author and a staunch advocate for achieving radical life extension through a comprehensive system of rejuvenation. On the other hand, Peter Fedichev and the Gero team, which he leads, recognize the value of rejuvenation. In fact, they have an in-house project that has produced partial rejuvenation in old mice, and they are now developing an mRNA vaccine that could be the first rejuvenation/anti-aging vaccine. This drug has the potential to address many age-related diseases with unmet needs and significant market potential.

However, Dr. Fedichev makes a strong case, covered by Popular Mechanics, about the limitations of rejuvenation for humans, suggesting it might offer only around 10-15 additional years of lifespan at best. This assertion, backed by several publications and public presentations, has made waves in our community, earning the Gero team the nickname “The Rejuvenation Party Poopers.”

If Dr. Fedichev is correct, the last thing we want is to lose a decade or two before this realization becomes widespread. According to the Gero team, with current technologies, we have the potential to double our lifespan—or even live for hundreds of years—by halting aging, as seen in negligibly senescent animals like naked mole rats and some species of bats. However, the therapeutic targets, drugs, and biomarkers should be completely different from those used by the modern longevity industry to achieve rejuvenation effects. To reach the market in roughly 10 years, dozens of such approaches should start now. Yet, the Gero vision is very contrarian to the current mainstream in longevity science and industry, despite having papers in reputable journals and deals with major pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer based on their technology rooted in Fedichev’s theory.

If Fedichev is right, those investing in life extension or supporting longevity startups—such as Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos, Yuri Milner, Brian Armstrong, Blake Byers, Michael Greve, Larry Page, and Bill Maris, —along with new investors, granting agencies, and entrepreneurs, should consider diversifying their bets. They should think not just about rejuvenation but also about halting aging by mechanisms as Fedichev suggests and start funding such approaches immediately. Time is ticking, and we could be the last generation to die from aging if we all go in the wrong direction.

For many years, numerous aging theories have peacefully coexisted, with their proponents publishing papers, receiving grants, starting companies, and being cordial to one another. We now find ourselves in a postmodern situation where almost everyone in gerontology refrains from directly critiquing other approaches. The field and humanity are losing out because of this. We need open debate to address critical questions, set trends for future research, and develop effective therapies.

The last decade has witnessed an unprecedented surge of interest and investment in longevity research. No longer confined to the fringes of science, the quest for extended lifespan has captured the attention and resources of some of the world's most influential figures. Billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Yuri Milner, and Sam Altman have poured significant funds into ventures like Altos Labs and Retro Bio, fueling a new wave of ambitious research and development. However, these investments, while substantial, remain dwarfed by the immense complexity and critical importance of solving the aging problem.

This influx of capital has propelled longevity science into the mainstream, sparking a flurry of activity and innovation. Promising drugs, showing potential for age reversal in mice, are already undergoing human clinical trials. This momentum makes it a pivotal moment to pause, reflect, and rigorously examine the most promising paths forward. The "How to Defeat Aging" debate aims to do just that in a battle of ideas that could shape the future of human health and longevity.

Longevity industry insiders are quite confident that there are no laws of nature that limit human lifespan; healthy human life can be extended to hundreds of years. But how fast — and by which means? Will you and your loved ones still be alive and healthy, or will you be the last generation to die from aging? The difference of a few decades earlier or later is a matter of life or death for billions of people, including yours. We need to move quickly in the right direction to ensure these technologies reach the maximum number of people alive today. This urgency underscores the importance of understanding precisely what the right direction in anti-aging research is, and what the most effective actions are to take.

This debate is not only about the next big thing in science, business, and civilization; it's fundamentally about saving lives.

Aubrey de Grey, the visionary biomedical gerontologist behind the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS), firmly believes that aging is reversible. He envisions a future where rejuvenation therapies could comprehensively repair the damage of aging, potentially extending human life far beyond current limits.

Peter Fedichev, a physicist turned aging scientist, offers a contrasting perspective. His models, rooted in complex systems physics, suggest that even though aging in mice can be and has been experimentally reversed, aging in humans is mostly stochastic, is characterized by the entropy increase, and as such is likely irreversible with existing or foreseeable means. Fedichev argues that while complete reversal might be practically impossible, we can significantly extend healthy lifespan by focusing on halting the aging process.

An esteemed jury will be carefully weighing the evidence presented by each side. The stakes are high, with a 10,000 USDT prize awaiting the scientist whose arguments and evidence prove most compelling.

Jury

• Prof. David Furman (Buck/Stanford)
• Prof. Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk (UCI)
• Prof. Guo Huang (UCSF)
• Prof. Thomas Stoeger (Northwestern)
• Prof. Mattew Yosefzadeh (Columbia)

This debate is not merely an intellectual exercise. Its conclusions could reshape the landscape of longevity research, influencing funding decisions, regulatory policies, and public awareness. By openly addressing the fundamental questions of what aging is and how we can combat it, this debate will help chart the future of human health and longevity.

Don't miss this pivotal moment in longevity science. The "How to Defeat Aging" debate will be held on May 27, 2024, at the Foresight Institute.
A live broadcast will be available on YouTube, allowing audiences worldwide to participate in this crucial conversation.

Dr. Peter Fedichev is a recognized physicist and gerontologist, a co-founder of Gero.ai, one of the most radical longevity drug discovery companies

Peter has developed quantitative models of human aging, now used in AI-powered drug discovery at Gero.ai in in-house projects and in high-profile collaborations such as one with Pfizer. In a series of publications starting from 2015, Fedichev proposed his theory of aging Theory of Aging. This theory differentiates between key features of aging in humans and preclinical models of diseases, such as mice, reversible diseases and the largely irreversible nature of aging in humans but also provides a compelling case for the possibility of halting human aging altogether. Gero, the company he co-founded, is actively developing therapies with the potential to stop aging, and the team’s promising animal data suggests a significant step forward. Fedichev's insights have gained traction with recent publications concerning the nature of aging in epigenetic changes, garnered widespread recognition, appearing in prominent publications like Scientific American and Popular Mechanics, and his research on the limits of human lifespan has generated considerable interest within the scientific community and beyond.

“There is a lot of excitement in the field of longevity research due to successful experiments leading to rejuvenation in mice. However, our studies point to fundamental differences between aging in mice and humans, suggesting that aging in humans is mostly stochastic and therefore rejuvenation strategies will have their limits - aging in humans is mostly thermodynamically irreversible. I’ve enjoyed our discussions of these findings with Aubrey de Grey and now am looking forward to engaging in public conversations, as a better understanding of aging is crucial for achieving meaningful life extension. I’m very much looking forward to the debate.” — Dr. Peter Fedichev

Key Contributions

• Quantitative Model of Aging: In a series of publications from 2015 developed theoretical models comprising deterministic and stochastic aspects of aging and a quantitative theory of aging, rooted in complex systems physics, which has since been translated into AI-driven drug discovery technology.
• Irreversible Aging, Reversible Disease: Emphasized the critical distinction between the irreversible nature of aging in humans and the reversible aspects of age-related diseases, paving the way for targeted therapeutic interventions. (Aging clocks, entropy, and the limits of age-reversal Andrei E. Tarkhov, Kirill A. Denisov, Peter O. Fedichev;doi:https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.02.06.479300)

• Entropy and Aging: Applied principles borrowed from dynamic systems theory and thermodynamics to model aging, providing quantitative evidence that entropy (the increase of disorder) is a fundamental driver of human aging.
• Two Types of Aging: Proposed a novel framework distinguishing two types of aging:

- Reversible Aging: dynamic instability drives aging in lab models of aging and in the last decade of life. This process can be and has been reverted in experiments in lab animals with medicines that may extend human life incrementally by up to 10-15 years.
- Irreversible Aging (Entropy-Based): happens from birth, cannot be fully reversed but can be slowed or even halted, offering the potential for a multi-fold increase in healthy lifespan.
(Differential Responses of Dynamic and Entropic Aging Factors to Longevity Interventions. Kristina Perevoshchikova, Peter O. Fedichev; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.02.25.581928)

• Gero's Research: Co-founded Gero.ai, a leading longevity research company that leverages AI to discover novel drug targets for both types of aging. Gero's work has led to the development of the world's first mRNA anti-aging vaccine, by the mechanism discovered by Gero and demonstrating promising results in mice. One of the recent findings of Peter Fedichev and the Gero team pointed to what limits human lifespan with the conclusion of what the proper anti-aging drug to break these limits should look like. These findings were covered in hundreds of media outlets, including Scientific American, and Popular Mechanics, and became the second-most downloaded paper in Nature Communications Health Sciences 2021.
• Published Works: Authored numerous scientific papers in prestigious journals like Science and Nature Communications, significantly contributing to the field of longevity research, drug discovery and physics.

Subsequent research of other scientists confirms the discoveries of Fedichev and the Gero team:

1. Tarkhov, A.E., Lindstrom-Vautrin, T., Zhang, S. et al. Nature of epigenetic aging from a single-cell perspective. Nat Aging (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-024-00616-0
2. Tong, H., Dwaraka, V.B., Chen, Q. et al. Quantifying the stochastic component of epigenetic aging. Nat Aging (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-024-00600-8
3. Meyer, D.H., Schumacher, B. Aging clocks based on accumulating stochastic variation.Nat Aging (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-024-00619-x
4. Peter Niimi, Victoria Gould, Kyra Thrush-Evensen, Morgan E. Levine. The Latent Aging of Cells bioRxiv 2024.05.28.596284; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.05.28.596284

Background and Expertise

• Education: Studied at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), conducted graduate work at the Kurchatov Institute, and received a Ph.D. in theoretical condensed matter physics from the University of Amsterdam.
• Career: Worked at renowned institutions like the FOM Institute AMOLF and the University of Innsbruck before applying his physics expertise to drug discovery.

Dr. Aubrey de Grey is internationally recognized for his pioneering work on the longevity. He has co-founded multiple non-profit organizations dedicated to advancing this research. Dr. Aubrey de Grey is Currently a President and Chief Science Officer of Longevity Escape Velocity Foundation conducting and inspiring research to comprehensively cure and prevent human age-related disease . De Grey is the author of "Ending Aging" and numerous academic papers. He is a Fellow of both the Gerontological Society of America and the American Aging Association.

“Peter and I had a long and highly enjoyable impromptu debate a year ago, which attracted a large spontaneous audience, so I’m delighted that Foresight has decided to give us a more formal stage. Our main goal will be to evaluate, and determine how future studies could let us better evaluate, a highly provocative claim that Peter made a year or so ago: that some of the types of damage whose accumulation drives late-life decline in health are inherently incapable (or very nearly so) of being repaired. Our main challenge will be in discussing this quite technical topic without losing the audience, but we both really want to help everyone to understand what’s going on at the cutting edge of the field, so we’ll do our best!” — Dr. Aubrey de Grey

Key Contributions

• Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS): Developed the SENS approach, which categorizes the biological damage of aging into seven types and proposes specific therapies to repair each type. This comprehensive framework aims to rejuvenate the body and extend healthy lifespan significantly.
• Rejuvenation Biotechnology: Advocated for the development of therapies that repair cellular and molecular damage caused by aging, distinguishing his approach from traditional symptom management and preventive measures. This includes therapies for mitochondrial mutations, senescent cell clearance, and protein cross-link breaking.
• Robust Mouse Rejuvenation study. Author of the Robust Mouse Rejuvenation study ,the first attempt to detect synergistic benefits of various combinations of treatments, each of which has existing evidence suggesting the potential to extend healthy lifespans.
• Dublin Longevity Declaration Aubrey de Grey, together with Brian Kennedy, are the scientific co-authors of the Dublin Longevity Declaration
• GlycoSENS and MitoSENS Projects:

- GlycoSENS: Focuses on breaking harmful protein cross-links that contribute to tissue stiffness, leading to the spin-off of Revel Pharmaceuticals.
- MitoSENS: Aims to relocate mitochondrial DNA into the cell nucleus to protect it from damage by free radicals, with significant advancements and respect in the scientific community.

• Senescent Cell Clearance: Funded research into senolytic therapies that enhance natural killer cells to selectively clear senescent cells, addressing one of the key types of damage in aging.
• Longevity Escape Velocity: Coined the concept of "longevity escape velocity," the idea that medical therapies could rejuvenate the body enough to extend life indefinitely by continually improving and applying these therapies.
• Educational Initiatives and Publications: Authored the influential book "Ending Aging" and numerous academic papers. His work has inspired a new generation of scientists to explore innovative ways to combat aging.
• Practical Results

- Research Funding and Spin-offs: Under de Grey's leadership, various projects leading to notable preclinical advancements were successfully funded The foundation has spun off multiple companies to further develop its research, such as Revel Pharmaceuticals for protein cross-link breaking​ (Fight Aging!)​​ (RejuvenAge)​​ ​.

• Preclinical and Clinical Trials:

- Senolytic Therapies: Currently in preclinical stages, showing promise in enhancing natural killer cells to target and remove senescent cells​ MitoSENS: Advanced preclinical research has demonstrated significant potential in protecting mitochondrial DNA from damage, paving the way towards clinical trials​ (Fight Aging!)​.

Background and Expertise

• Education: Holds a BA and Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. His interdisciplinary approach combines computer science, biology, and biomedical engineering.
• Career: Co-founded multiple non-profit organizations to advance his vision of combating aging. He has held positions at various institutions, contributing to both theoretical and applied research in aging. Dr. Aubrey de Grey is currently president and chief science officer of the Longevity Escape Velocity Foundation and co-organizer of the Longevity Summit Dublin.
• Recognition: De Grey is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the American Aging Association. His innovative ideas and persistent advocacy have earned him a prominent place in the field of longevity science​ (Wikipedia)​​ (Work for human longevity)​​ (Neurohacker Collective)​​ ​​ (Fight Aging!)​​ (RejuvenAge)​​.
• Aubrey de Grey's pioneering efforts continue to drive the field of rejuvenation biotechnology, inspiring both scientific progress and public interest in the quest to defeat aging.

Introduction

Greetings and opening remarks by organizers, sponsors, etc.
Introduction of the host
Contestants Introducing 
Jury introducing
A brief reminder of timing regulations and procedure
Draw for the order of performances. As a result of the draw, each debater gets his/her number 1 or 2

Discussion round
Speech on the issue by contestant 1 (10 min each)
Speech on the issue by contestant 2 (10 min each)
Judging of presentation: Every jury member distributes 4 points among contestants (the number scored to the contestant must be an integer, fractionals are not allowed)
Cross questions from one contestant to another (15 min)
The jury can interrupt debaters if they decide that the discussion has become irrelevant
1st asks 2nd
2nd asks 1st
Jury asks their questions (10 min)
Judging of answers and discussion: Every jury member distributes 4 points among contestants (the number scored to the contestant must be an integer, fractionals are not allowed)

For the next round/question order of presentation and cross-questions shifts by one

Peter Fedichev
X: https://x.com/fedichev
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterfedichev/
Gero:
X: https://x.com/hacking_aging
Linkedin:https://www.linkedin.com/company/4994380/


Aubrey de Grey
X: https://x.com/aubreydegrey
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aubrey-de-grey-24260b/

Longevity Escape Velocity (LEV) Foundation
X: https://x.com/LongevityEVF
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/longevity-escape-velocity-lev-foundation/

The "How to Defeat Aging" debate promises to be a watershed moment in longevity science. By openly and rigorously exploring the fundamental questions surrounding aging, this event will help propel us towards a future where extended healthspan and perhaps even the end of aging itself become a reality.

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