Vitalist Bay conference diversity
Sarah Todd found the Vitalist Bay longevity conference more diverse than expected, with a fair number of women and people of color, not just tech billionaires.
Where this was said
Inside Vitalist Bay: The Longevity Movement's Festival
At 3:53 · chapter starts 2:39
Sarah Todd, a health reporter for STAT News, went to Vitalist Bay expecting a sea of Bryan Johnson-style tech billionaires and found something more nuanced. The Berkeley-based conference, only in its second year, draws investors, researchers, and general wellness enthusiasts — and has a notably diverse crowd, including significant numbers of women and people of color. [1] — Sarah Todd "Vitalist Bay is a Berkeley-based annual gathering for the longevity movement — part science fair, part lifestyle festival. Attendees range …" 02:39 Todd discovered that attendees aren't primarily afraid of dying; instead, they're acutely aware of death and worried that the average human lifespan simply isn't long enough to do everything they want. Many had personal stakes — relatives with Alzheimer's or dementia — driving their interest in healthspan as well as lifespan. One company on the expo floor, NeuroAge, claimed its MRI and blood-test combination could measure brain biological age and that its founder had grown her own hippocampus by 1.5%, though the company acknowledged its methods aren't yet clinically validated.
Vitalist Bay: The Burning Man of Longevity
Vitalist Bay is a Berkeley-based annual gathering for the longevity movement — part science fair, part lifestyle festival. Attendees range from tech workers to researchers and investors, and the crowd is more diverse than the billionaire-bro stereotype suggests.
NeuroAge hippocampus growth claim
The founder of longevity startup NeuroAge claimed to have grown her own hippocampus by 1.5%, though the claim is not clinically validated.
Bodyoids: Growing Headless Organ Farms for Immortality
Two startups at Vitalist Bay are building 'bodyoids' — headless biological sacks of organs that could replace failing human hearts, livers, and kidneys. The concept raises immediate philosophical alarm: if you replace enough organs, are you still you?
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