Tough break, biohackers.
A new study claims to have found the absolute upper limit of the human lifespan — even if scientists somehow crack the code on aging itself.
There’s just one wrinkle: The oldest person on record made it to 122, leaving plenty of birthday candles to blow out before anyone can put the theory to the test.
In the study, researchers at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology in Russia focused on somatic mutations, random changes in DNA that quietly accumulate in the body’s cells over a lifetime.
Many are harmless, but others can damage cells, interfere with how they function and drive the development of age-related diseases, including cancer.
Importantly, scientists believe these mutations are impossible to avoid completely. They can be triggered by everything from routine errors during cell division to environmental stressors, such as exposure to viruses, certain chemicals and even UV rays from the sun.
Curious how much these DNA changes actually matter for longevity, the researchers put them to the test.
The team built a model that switched off all the reversible hallmarks of aging, then left somatic mutations untouched to see how long humans could theoretically live if those genetic errors were the only thing standing in their way.
The verdict? Even in that futuristic scenario, the researchers found they would still cap the median human lifespan somewhere between 146 and 194 years.
But not every part of the body takes the same hit.
The team found that organs like the liver and skin constantly replace old cells, effectively wiping out these changes. Without any other aging factors at play, the model suggested they could maintain normal function for thousands of years.
The same can’t be said for the heart and brain. Most cells in these tissues don’t regularly divide and produce replacements, meaning harmful mutations accumulate and the damage becomes permanent.
In the model, damage to neurons alone brought the median lifespan down to 194 years, while damage to heart muscle cells lowered it to 208 years.
The findings pour cold water on the dreams of longevity enthusiasts like biohacker Bryan Johnson, who spends millions of dollars each year trying to slow the aging process and, ultimately, outrun death itself.
“We can now not just say that mutations are harmful, but quantify exactly how much they shorten life and compare their contribution with other aging processes,” Ekaterina Khrameeva, the study’s principal investigator, said in a press release.
“This work is important for understanding which aging mechanisms deserve the most attention and resources.”
But somatic mutations aren’t the whole story.
If these DNA changes alone cap the median human lifespan at around 156 years, yet people today live roughly half that long on average, the researchers said other factors must be helping pull the numbers down.
“Our study shows that somatic mutations contribute significantly to aging, but they cannot by themselves explain the observed mortality,” said Dmitrii Kriukov, who led the research.
“This means that other aging mechanisms — such as loss of proteostasis, mitochondrial dysfunction or epigenetic changes — contribute comparably to limiting lifespan.”
In the US, people are living longer than ever, with average life expectancy hitting a record 79 years in 2024. But that still falls 3.7 years short of the 82.7-year average in comparable countries.
Jeanne Calment of France continues to hold the title of the oldest person in recorded history with a verified age, having lived 122 years and 164 days before her death in 1997.
