There is a certain kind of rich that keeps its secrets. Nestled in the Vaud Alps, Gstaad is where it keeps them. Home to around 50 of the guild of billionaires, the Swiss mountain resort has become shorthand for Hermès, cashmere, the art of understated luxury and elegance, and, discreetly, a private jet in the backyard.

However, every September, Gstaad draws an entirely different crowd. One in search of eternal youth.

I’m invited to the Longevity Investors Conference, one of the most private longevity events in the world, where the global elite and scientists are trying to achieve something that was previously thought physically impossible.

Inside Gstaad’s Invitation-Only Summit

On the opening day, it's a bright autumn morning, and I make my way past a copper Porsche 911 and a Ferrari, through the entrance of the Grand Bellevue. Inside the event, chattering, are some of the greatest minds in science, who, like modern alchemists, are medically chasing the fountain of youth. They exchange knowledge with a crowd star-studded with celebrities. Dave Asprey, the inventor of the bulletproof coffee and the moniker ‘biohacking ’, is present. Dr. Adeel Khan, the doctor who was able to prevent Kim Kardashian from having surgery, is there, as well as Dr. Steve Horvath, principal investigator at Sam Altman’s backed Altos Labs. Other guests are so elite, they mingle under the cloak of anonymity. To get in, attendees must be handpicked and have at least 30 million euros in assets under management.

The Promise — And Limits — of Longevity Science

The summit is somewhat of a biological renaissance and the design of a new Vitruvian man. The ambition is to significantly increase lifespan, while also tackling major diseases that cut it short. However, this isn’t vanity. The pursuit is a collective interest. The aging demographic and Silver Tsunami are one of the greatest challenges facing mankind, and pension and healthcare systems sit around the world like ticking time bombs, promising global pandemonium if the question of aging isn’t solved. More so, investing in these medical breakthroughs could also reduce a significant amount of suffering caused by illness worldwide.

As the longevity luminary, Dr. Nir Barzilai shares, stopping aging could help prevent nearly every major disease we fear. Barzilai, who takes the stage at the event, says that the scientific endeavors are already bearing fruit. He said several existing FDA-approved medicines could have applications in aging research. However, no drug has been approved by the FDA specifically to reverse human aging.

Over the next three days, the presentations, which range from scientific research to pioneering medical treatments and moonshots, keep coming back to two forces behind longevity: the genetic factors that enable it and the environmental factors that influence it.

Space Laboratories As a New Research Frontier

One of the most interesting medical ventures at the conference is SpacePharma. The firm has turned to an unlikely laboratory, namely space. The company sends experiments into orbit, so microgravity could accelerate the study of biological changes associated with aging and disease. Its miniaturized, autonomous laboratories, the firm says, can accelerate processes associated with aging, including bone demineralization, muscle atrophy, immune dysregulation, cardiovascular deconditioning and cellular senescence. This allows researchers to study conditions such as osteoporosis, sarcopenia and immunosenescence, as well as stem-cell regeneration and protein-based drug development. If successful, the approach could de-risk and reduce costly, multi-year human trials on Earth.

Pandemic Preparedness Attracts Investors

Also present is Maxwell Biosciences, a firm that focuses on pathogens. The company says that almost universally, the greatest past civilizations, whether Egyptians, Minoans, Aztecs or Mayans, have collapsed due to pandemics. The biotech, which posits that our own society has become more fragile due to the last pandemic, is attempting to find a universal biodefense that works against all known pathogens of pandemic concern: extremely broad-spectrum, easy-to-use, nontoxic therapeutics that do not need refrigeration and do not allow pathogens to develop resistance.

The company has also received military and government funding from various countries for its research.

Controversial Claims Require Scrutiny

The conference also ventured into more contested territory. Some speakers questioned aspects of COVID-19 vaccine safety, including alleged vascular effects. These claims were presented at the conference and should not be mistaken for established scientific findings.

Interestingly, the presentation by Maxwell Biosciences discussed research into possible links between Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) and long COVID. A causal relationship has not been established.

What the Oldest Survivors Can — and Cannot — Tell Us

A surprising COVID learning came from an unexpected group whom one speaker described as having weathered some COVID-19 infections unusually well: supercentenarians, people aged 110 and above. Cambridge’s Aubrey de Grey, often considered father of the Longevity movement, who is studying this demographic, shared that he had heard reports of several supercentenarians surviving repeated COVID-19 infections without hospitalization. Such anecdotes cannot establish a protective genetic effect. Some researchers argue this pattern isn't down to chance, but points to an underlying “genetic lottery win” that may protect the oldest members of the population, rather than a product of healthy living.

Blood Cleansing and Environmental Theories

Natalie Lefevre, well known online as the Blood Cleanse Lady, believes much of longevity is shaped by environment and epigenetics, or how surroundings change gene expression. She argues that the "toxic soup" people breathe and live in daily drives massive inflammation, and that detox should become a lifestyle: removing heavy metals and parasites, filtering water at home, and avoiding glyphosate, forever chemicals, and microplastics. A proponent of blood cleansing, she points to its medical roots in the 1940s. Longevity, she says, is about what you remove from the body before it settles into tissues and the mitochondria.

Interestingly, her presentation shares studies, examining environmental factors that may contribute to Parkinson’s disease; the condition has multiple known and suspected influences.

Gene Therapy and Experimental Treatments

As for some of the future treatments that the longevity experts are excited about, Lefevre names DNA and gene therapy, though she cautions it will take years to prove them safe. She is also a fan of a frequency-based NLS system built on a 35-year Russian database tech.

Celebrity Clients and the Klotho Protein

Dr. Adeel Khan, chief longevity officer at Sedona Health, sees potential and value in experimental treatments offered offshore. Khan says he has also given Khloe Kardashian stem-cell infusions, and he is tracking her biological aging markers over time. His latest interest is Klotho, a protein that declines with age, and gene therapy to raise it. In mice, removing its gene accelerates aging, while overexpressing it extends lifespan. Dave Asprey also highlights Klotho, which he says can raise IQ and has significantly benefited him and his clients.

Biohacking, Light and Costly Peptides

As for the personal longevity biohacks he recommends to the public, Asprey points to ultraviolet B light. Light, he says, is the "language of cells," and he credits these biophotons with a significant effect on circadian rhythms, including, he claims, relieving his jet lag even after flying eight time zones to attend the conference. His other interest is SS-31, a peptide that he says costs about $1,000 a month at a therapeutic dose and works at the mitochondrial level to significantly increase energy. Asprey has also moved on from Bulletproof Coffee to what he calls Danger Coffee, a mold-free blend with trace minerals that he says changes how the body's cells respond.

The Big Question for Investors

At the end of three days, one question hangs over the conference: Is the pursuit of a longer life a contest with nature, or simply with a toxic world that has made illness seem natural?

It is certainly unusual. But breakthroughs rarely come from doing only what has been done before. While some might call it crazy, others note that insanity is often defined as repeating the same thing and expecting different results. Perhaps it takes extraordinary measures to achieve something humanly extraordinary.