The military gets early access to the most incredible technology — like GPS, duct tape, virtual reality, and tampons (love em’ or hate em’). And soon, they’ll be testing anti-aging pills.
Starting next year, the U.S. military’s Special Operations Command (SOCOM) will begin testing an experimental anti-aging medication that they claim may prevent soldiers from growing old — or, rather, feeling the adverse effects of aging.
If the trials go well, it could become a longevity treatment for civilians too.
Creating a superhuman: Military operations push troops to their physical limits. So, it is no wonder that the military has been trying to augment and enhance human ability. From wearable robotic suits that give an ordinary person superhuman strength to creating AI co-pilots, military technology can do amazing things.
Its latest fantastic moonshot aims to stop aging in its tracks — sort of.
How it works: The anti-aging pill, which is akin to a dietary supplement, raises levels of the chemical NAD+, which has been related to aging and the various ways in which the human body deteriorates over time. It is being made through a special partnership between SOCOM and a private biotech laboratory called Metro International Biotech, LLC.
SOCOM thinks if they can flood a soldier’s system with more NAD+, then maybe they won’t see the declines in physical and mental fitness that naturally come with age.
Next up: After completing initial safety trials, SOCOM and Metro International Biotech, LLC. plans to begin the next phase of testing in 2022.
“We have completed pre-clinical safety and dosing studies in anticipation of follow-on performance testing in the fiscal year 2022,” said Navy Cmdr. Tim Hawkins, a SOCOM spokesperson, reports Breaking Defense
If the trials go well, it could become a longevity treatment for civilians too. You won’t need to be a biohacker to optimize your body’s performance anymore.
“We are working with leading industry partners and clinical research institutions to develop a nutraceutical, in the form of a pill that is suitable for a variety of uses by both civilians and military members, whose resulting benefits may include improved human performance – like increased endurance and faster recovery from injury,” Hawkins told Breaking Defense.
But don’t assume Captain America will be joining the ranks of the U.S. military just yet. It will still be some time before we know for sure if the anti-aging pill lives up to its promise.
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