Russian study suggests human lifespan could extend to 156 years
A July 2026 paper in npj Aging proposes that eliminating somatic DNA mutations might raise the theoretical human lifespan limit to 156 years, though practical extensions remain uncertain.
Researchers from Russia have presented a model indicating that, if the effects of somatic mutations were removed, humans could potentially live up to 156 years. The study, published in the journal npj Aging, analyzed DNA damage accumulation and its role in aging, noting that current limits of about 122 years are based on earlier estimates.
Somatic mutations, which accrue in body cells due to environmental exposure and replication errors, are linked to age-related decline, particularly in organs that cannot readily regenerate, such as the brain and heart. The authors argue that these non-renewable tissues constrain both lifespan and healthspan.
"The conditions that cost people their independent, healthy years—such as dementia and heart failure—fall heavily on precisely the tissues that cannot regenerate," said Jordan Weiss, an assistant professor at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine.
"It proves that DNA damage accumulating in our cells is one of the reasons we cannot live indefinitely but also shows that our bodies are complex systems and that it is only one piece of a much larger puzzle," explained Egle Pavyde, a pharmacist and regenerative-medicine researcher.
The model does not dismiss other aging mechanisms, including mitochondrial dysfunction, epigenetic changes, telomere shortening, and loss of proteostasis. The authors suggest that future anti-aging strategies should focus on preventing or repairing DNA damage in brain and heart cells rather than in more regenerative tissues.
Health agencies continue to recommend established lifestyle measures—such as avoiding smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, getting adequate sleep, following vaccination schedules, undergoing preventive cancer screenings, and managing blood pressure and cholesterol—to extend life expectancy by roughly a decade.
"People have demonstrated that if you do these things, which are all feasible, you can increase your life expectancy by 10 years. We don't need a magic pill. The magic pill is already here," said Luigi Ferrucci, scientific director of the NIH’s National Institute on Aging.