Evening Standard’s Claire Cohen profiles tech investors like Bryan Johnson and Larry Ellison who fund longevity startups. She examines experimental approaches—NAD+ boosters, telomerase therapies, peptide infusions, nanorobots—and assesses their potential to extend healthspan toward 150 years.

Key points

• High-net-worth individuals like Bryan Johnson and Larry Ellison allocate millions annually to emerging longevity modalities, exemplifying the financial impetus behind geroscience ventures.
• Investigational therapies include NAD+ supplementation (oral), telomerase activation (gene therapy), rapamycin analogs (systemic dosing), and peptide infusions, demonstrating preliminary biomarker improvements in limited human studies.
• Nanorobotic platforms aim for in vivo cellular monitoring and targeted repair, offering precision restoration of blood, hormonal, and tissue function, though remaining in preclinical stages.

Researchers at the US Navy Marine Mammal Program and founder Dr Stephanie Venn-Watson identify C15:0, an odd-chain saturated fatty acid abundant in dolphin diets, as an essential longevity nutrient. Through controlled dolphin serum analyses and dietary trials, they demonstrate C15:0’s benefits for liver function, cholesterol reduction, and mitochondrial repair. These findings underpin Fatty15, a peer-reviewed supplement engineered to deliver bioavailable C15:0 for human metabolic health optimization.

Key points

• Identification of pentadecanoic acid (C15:0) as an essential longevity nutrient through dolphin serum metabolomics.
• Correlation of dietary C15:0 intake with improved metabolic markers and reduced liver disease in bottlenose dolphins.
• Dolphin dietary trials demonstrate C15:0’s effects on lowering cholesterol, reducing inflammation, and repairing mitochondria.
• Development of vegan C15:0 supplement Fatty15, validated by over 100 peer-reviewed studies for bioavailability and safety.
• Proposal to integrate C15:0 into fortified foods, beverages, and infant formulas for broader metabolic health applications.

Why it matters: This discovery challenges prevailing notions that saturated fats are uniformly detrimental by highlighting the therapeutic potential of C15:0, a previously overlooked odd-chain fatty acid. Demonstrating efficacy in a long-lived mammalian model bridges the gap between rodent studies and human application, paving the way for targeted metabolic interventions and evidence-based longevity supplements.