The search for the elusive fountain of youth has been a human endeavor for centuries. Dr. Anatoli Brouchkov, a Russian scientist, believes he may have found a clue in 3.5-million-year-old bacteria. Taking a bold step, he injected himself with the ancient microorganism.
Dr. Brouchkov discovered the bacteria, known as Bacillus F, in 2009. It was frozen deep within the Siberian permafrost, even deeper than woolly mammoth remains. Astonishingly, the bacteria were still alive and seemed to prolong the life of everything around it. Early studies on mice, fruit flies, and crops have shown promising results, leading Russian epidemiologist Dr. Viktor Chernyavsky to dub it an “elixir of life.”
The bacteria appear to have unique properties. Mice exposed to it lived longer and remained fertile into old age. Crops grew faster and were more frost-resistant. Even the people in the Yakutia region, where the bacteria were found, have longer-than-average lifespans.
Despite the lack of formal human trials, Dr. Brouchkov took the plunge and became the first human test subject. Since injecting himself, he reports feeling better than ever and hasn’t contracted a cold or flu in two years. While it’s too early to confirm the bacteria’s effects on human longevity, Dr. Brouchkov’s experiment adds a fascinating chapter to the quest for eternal life.
Images above belong to the Daily Mail.