--- title: "Hot Mic Catches Putin and Xi Discussing Plans to Transplant Organs for Immortality" description: "Russian president Vladimir Putin was caught chatting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, about organ transplants and immortality." date: "2025-09-03" modified: "2025-09-03" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/hot-mic-putin-xi-transplant-organs-immortality" categories: - "Developments" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "anti-aging" - "china" - "human organs" - "organs" - "Russia" --- # Hot Mic Catches Putin and Xi Discussing Plans to Transplant Organs for Immortality ![Russian president Vladimir Putin was caught chatting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, about organ transplants and immortality.]() *\Image: SERGEY BOBYLEV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images\* Russian president Vladimir Putin was caught chatting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping — about the light topic of organ transplants, and how they could let "us live younger and younger, and perhaps even achieve immortality." As [*ABC News* reports](), the comments were overheard on a hot mic attached to Putin's interpreter, who was translating his words into Mandarin at a parade in Beijing this week commemorating the end of World War II and showing off fearsome new Chinese military might. "With continuous advances in biotechnology, human organs will be increasingly transplanted — letting us live younger and younger, and perhaps even achieve immortality," Putin's interpreter said in Mandarin. "In this century, it's anticipated that it may be possible for people to live to 150 years old," Xi responded. It remains unclear whether Putin was referring to his own ambitions to extend his own life with the use of cutting-edge technologies. Powerful people have often become obsessed with their own youth, sometimes resorting to [outlandish interventions]() to artificially prolong their own lives. Putin himself has been known to consult with a Russian gerontologist and "anti-aging guru" — who, ironically, [passed away]() at the age of 77 last year. Alternatively, Putin could be addressing much broader concerns about plummeting population levels. China's population is expected to [drop by half]() within just 30 years due to increasing economic pressure leading to lower birth rates, not to mention the country's draconian One Child Policy, which was intended to curb overpopulation but [wildly overshot that mark](). Russia's population is also [shrinking at an alarming rate](), with its years-long war with Ukraine exacerbating a growing crisis. The comments come after Putin told Russia's National Healthcare Congress last year that "one of the main goals for the coming years is to increase life expectancy," as [quoted]() by state-run news network *TASS*. The president declared that it was his mission to extend the life expectancy of Russians beyond 80 years. According [to the World Health Organization](), Russia's life expectancy has trailed much of the rest of the world, and its population is expected to fall by 6.4 percent by 2050. Whether advancements in organ transplants will lead to longer lives remains hotly debated. While a new donor organ may extend a patient's life, it's [far from a permanent fix](), let alone a way to live far past somebody's life expectancy. Life-saving donor organs are also in perpetual short supply for patients who need them. In response to that reality, doctors are now urgently investigating [xenotransplantation](), or transplanting organs from a different species, such as pigs, into a human. In short, the jury is definitely still out on whether people will be able to live to 150 years old by the end of this century, as Xi predicts — and any prognostication of the kind should be taken with a big grain of salt, especially when they come from aging and ultra-powerful authoritarian leaders. **More on anti-aging:** *[Evidence Grows That Tripping on Shrooms Might Increase Your Lifespan]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()