#22 Aging will be cured within 20 years — here's why | Prof. Derya Unutmaz

Lately, there's been growing pushback against the idea that AI will transform geroscience in the short term.

When Nobel laureate Demis Hassabis told 60 Minutes that AI could help cure every disease within 5–10 years, many in the longevity and biotech communities scoffed. Leading aging biologists called it wishful thinking - or outright fantasy.

They argue that we still lack crucial biological data to train AI models, and that experiments and clinical trials move too slowly to change the timeline.

Our guest in this episode, Professor Derya Unutmaz, knows these objections well. But he’s firmly on Team Hassabis.

In fact, Unutmaz goes even further. He says we won’t just cure diseases - we'll solve aging itself within the next 20 years.

And best of all, he offers a surprisingly detailed, concrete explanation of how it will happen:

building virtual cells, modeling entire biological systems *in silico*, and dramatically accelerating drug discovery — powered by next-generation AI reasoning engines.

🧬 In this wide-ranging conversation, we also cover:

✅ Why biological complexity is no longer an unsolvable barrier.

✅ How digital twins could revolutionize diagnosis and treatment.

✅ Why clinical trials as we know them may soon collapse.

✅ The accelerating timeline toward longevity escape velocity.

✅ How reasoning AIs (like GPT-4o, o1, DeepSeek) are changing scientific research.

✅ Whether AI creativity challenges the idea that only biological minds can create.

✅ Why AI will force a new culture of leisure, curiosity, and human flourishing.

✅ The existential stress that will come as AI outperforms human expertise.

✅ Why “Don’t die” is no longer a joke — it's real advice.

🎙️ Hosted - as always - by Peter Ottsjö (tech journalist and author of Evigt Ung) and Dr. Patrick Linden (philosopher and author of The Case Against Death).

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🚀 Show notes for this episode will be available soon after this airs. Sign up for the LEVITY newsletter to get them straight to your inbox: reachlevity.com

-- CHAPTERS --

00:00 Introduction to Derya Unutmaz

05:22 Derya’s work at Jackson Laboratory

09:37 The impact of AI on research

15:04 AI as a collaborative partner

20:50 The nature of creativity in AI

30:21 Predictions for the future of AI and humanity

37:46 The future of AI in medicine

44:35 The impact of AI on professional identity

47:45 Education in the age of AI

01:01:32 The ethics of AI development

01:14:46 Longevity and AI's role in accelerating science

01:20:55 Virtual cells and digital twins

01:29:02 Can we do it in silico all the way?

01:33:08 Derya and Patrick will both talk at Vitalist Bay

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📕 Check out Patrick's book: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262543163/the-case-against-death/

📗 Check out Peter's book (only available in Swedish): https://www.adlibris.com/sv/bok/evigt-ung-min-och-manniskans-drom-om-ododligheten-9789179652524

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Show notes for this episode will be available soon after this airs. Sign up for the LEVITY newsletter to get them straight to your inbox: reachlevity.com/subscribe

LEVITY is co-hosted by Patrick Linden, philosopher and author, and Peter Ottsjö, journalist and author.

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