Immortality, Inc.: Renegade Science, Silicon Valley Billions, and the Quest to Live Forever

My fifth and most recent book, Immortality, Inc.: Renegade Science, Silicon Valley Billions and the Quest to Live Forever, was published by National Geographic Books, and is available in bookstores and online everywhere. Salon wrote: “Walter has clearly gained the trust of some of the most innovative and imaginative thinkers of the early 21st century, and in doing so he's able to offer the reader a glimpse inside their minds. And what we find there is certainly colorful. Whatever one thinks of the quest for immortality, it is impossible not to be intrigued by it”. The Wall Street Journal writes, “While Immortality, Inc. is focused on aging and the efforts to defy it, the book is also a gripping chronicle of private-sector experimentation and ingenuity.” “Witty … worth the ride,” wrote Nature, and Publisher’s Weekly calls the book, “Fascinating.” In early 2020 it was chosen one of the nation’s top six science books by Malcolm Gladwell’s Next Big Idea Club.

Here’s the Book’s Description

In this gripping narrative, journalist Chip Walter explores whether we can live forever, and tracks down the visionaries who believe we will soon crack the aging process and cure death.

New companies are emerging and betting their fortunes on laboratory advances to prove aging can be cured. Researchers are delving into the mysteries of stem cells and the human genome, discovering what old age really is and whether it can be eliminated. This isn't science fiction; it’s happening. And when it does it will change everything from economics to religion and social interactions.

In Immortality, Inc., Walter gains inside access that delivers a book that gathers for the first time the visions of molecular biologist and Apple chairman Arthur Levinson, genomics entrepreneur Craig Venter, futurist Ray Kurzweil, rejuvenation trailblazer Aubrey de Grey, and stem cell expert Robert Hariri. Throughout the book, Walter weaves in fascinating stories about life, death, aging, and the future of the human race.

Buy it through your favorite retailer:
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Notes from the author:

I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of living a long and healthy life. Outrunning death is a human dream that goes back thousands of years. But only recently did I come to believe that science might actually find a way to manage it. That happened a few years back when Google (now Alphabet) decided to fund a company called Calico, and brought in the Chairman of Apple (and former chairman of Genentech) to run the company, funded with more than a billion dollars. Shortly afterwards another company was created to cheat death called Human Longevity, Inc. It was co-founded by J. Craig Venter, the scientist who had spearheaded the first sequencing of the human genome in 2001. I decided to try to track these scientists (and a select few others) down, and see how and why they felt they could solve one of life’s great mysteries. What I found amazed me. I think it’ll amaze you too.

PURCHASE BELOW … You can also buy a signed copy here.