A Russian scientist, Anatoli Brouchkov, injected himself with a 3.5-million-year-old bacteria found in Siberian permafrost, in hopes that it somehow must hold the key to immortality.

Anatoli Brouchkov, head of the geocryology department at Moscow State Univeristy, has told Russian Times that injecting himself with the bacteria Bacillus F has definitely affected him positively.

“I started to work longer,” he said. “I’ve never had a flu for the last two years. But it still need the experiments. We have to work out how this bacteria prevents ageing. I think that is the way this science should develop. What is keeping that mechanism alive? And how can we use it for our own benefits?”

The Bacteria

Bacillus F is one of three ancient bacterial strains that were discovered in Siberian permafrost, in a site known as “Mammoth Mounter” in the Sakha Republic in 2009. Several experiments conducted by scientists such as Professor Sergey Ptrov of the Tyumen Scientific Centre, have shown the bacteria to increased longevity and fertility of mice.  “Mice not only began to dance, but also produced offspring,” he said to Siberian Times.

He began conducting similar experiments on human blood cells. However, he also decided to inject himself with it. “I would say, there exist [in the world] immortal bacteria, immortal beings. They cannot die. To [be] more precise, they can protect themselves,” he told RT. “Our cells are unable to protect themselves from damage; these bacteria cells are able to protect themselves.”


He also claims that the bacteria is already in trace amounts in the water of the region where it was found.


Despite these findings of longevity, both he and his colleagues cannot pinpoint the exact mechanism that protects cells from damage.