Israel: The Global Laboratory of Longevity

Retired people walking by the sea

Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Rehovot — in these sun-drenched cities with cafés and high-tech laboratories, a quiet revolution is underway: the revolution of longevity. Here, the goal is not the Silicon Valley fantasy of immortality, but rather an Israeli science of aging well — rooted in biology and genetics, yet animated by an almost spiritual quest for meaning.

At the Weizmann Institute, researchers are mapping the genomes of Jewish families from Europe and the Middle East who have lived beyond a hundred years. Their aim is to identify protective mutations that slow cellular aging.

“We’ve discovered in some Ashkenazi centenarians genetic variants that delay the shortening of telomeres,” explains Professor Valery Krizhanovsky, a leading figure at the Weizmann Institute. “Israel is a unique research ground: a small population, yet one of exceptional genetic diversity.”

At the Technion and Tel Aviv University, other teams are exploring the mechanisms of cellular senescence. The ambition is no longer merely to treat age-related diseases such as diabetes or Alzheimer’s, but to slow aging itself — targeting worn-out cells before they degenerate.

Around this fundamental research, a new generation of Israeli start-ups is attracting global capital. Biomica, a spin-off from Evogene, studies the role of the gut microbiome in regulating immunity and aging, while Renew Medical, founded by a biologist trained at MIT, focuses on tissue rejuvenation in skin and neural cells.

“Israel is the California of the biology of the future,” says an investor from Herzliya Ventures. “The best minds come from all over the world, and scientific audacity here combines with a uniquely pragmatic spirit.”

Yet this quest to extend time also raises ethical questions.

“Who will live longer — and at what cost?” asks Yuval Noah Harari, Israeli thinker and author of Homo Deus, often invited to speak about the limits of transhumanism. For Harari, Israel — a young nation obsessed with memory and survival — maintains a paradoxical relationship with time: “We seek to defy death, yet also to give meaning to a life defined by fragility.”

Even some modern rabbis, such as Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, take part in these debates, wondering: how far does the Torah permit the manipulation of life? And what becomes of the spiritual value of aging in a world that dreams of eternal youth?

An elderly woman and her daughter

In parallel, the longevity economy is emerging as a strategic pillar.By 2025, Israel’s longevity tech sector already represents more than two billion dollars in cumulative investment. Foreign funds — particularly from Japan and South Korea — are betting on personalized preventive medicine, a field where Israel excels thanks to its integrated medical data. Every citizen, through their kupat holim (health fund), has a complete genetic and biological record spanning decades — forming one of the most comprehensive medical databases in the world.

“We have the most digitized population in the world when it comes to medical data,” emphasizes Dr. Eytan Ruppin, an expert in bioinformatics. “That makes Israel an ideal testbed for the medicine of the future.”

Beyond the laboratories, the challenge is societal. By 2050, nearly one in four Israelis will be over 65. Aging is thus becoming both a national concern and an economic opportunity. The government is already considering the creation of a Longevity Hub in Be’er Sheva — modeled after the Silicon Wadi — to concentrate research on future health, nutrition, and cellular regeneration.

“What we’re doing here is not just extending life, but rethinking what it means to live long,” says Dr. Nir Barzilai, an Israeli researcher based in New York and a leading figure in the field. “The goal isn’t to add years to life, but life to years.”

Israel — a country constantly suspended between urgency and eternity — is paradoxically becoming a laboratory of slowness. In a land where every generation has known war, scientists now aim to offer the next one a rare luxury: time itself. And perhaps, between two experiments in the lab, to finally reconcile science and wisdom.

Caroline Haïat