Kurchatov Institute will study long-lived monkeys to prolong life

Research on centenarian primates could help develop a regulatory system to prolong human life. This was stated by the President of the National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute” Mikhail Kovalchuk, reports TASS.

According to him, scientists conduct a comprehensive survey of elderly monkeys aged 18 to 30 years and older. They study biochemical parameters, the structure of the body, the state of blood vessels and the brain to trace the different stages of aging.

“Primates are the closest example to us. This is the basis for creating a regulatory system to extend [life expectancy], Kovalchuk said.

On the eve of the Director of the Russian scientific center of surgery named after academician B. V. Petrovsky Konstantin Kotenko announced the creation in Russia of a biobank with blood samples of primates-centenarians. At the same time, Kovalchuk said that the nurseries of the Kurchatov Institute contain more than 7 thousand primates of 22 species. Among them is a unique collection of monkeys older than 20-30 years.

In 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin said life expectancy in the country should rise to 78 years and then exceed 80 years. One of the tasks of health care, he called the extension of the “active life” of people, so that Russians at a respectable age remained “opportunities and desire to work”, be “mentors” and transfer their experience.

To achieve these goals, the national project “Long and active life” was launched from 2025. In July 2024, Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said that he should ensure an increase in life expectancy by 2030 by 2.4 years. At the same time, the national development goals provide for an increase in the indicator to 78 years by 2030 and to 81 years by 2036. In June 2024, it was 73.2 years, according to Rosstat.