Level 2 · BiohackingBiohacking UpgradesMeasuring and modulating the immune system — the iAge inflammatory clock and data-driven ways to slow biological aging.
The Bridge · PreventionPreventionInflammation as an early-warning biomarker — catching the drivers of age-related disease before they take hold.
Live Beyond · A Great Mind on the Quest
David Furman
Immunologist · Buck Institute & Stanford Inflammation, the immune clock & the biology of aging · California
David Furman is an immunologist and data scientist at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging and Stanford, where he studies how the immune system quietly drives the diseases of aging across our organs.
His signature idea is that chronic inflammation — "inflammaging" — is a common thread running through the illnesses we fear most. To measure it, he built the iAge inflammatory clock, an AI biomarker that reads biological age from a person's immune data, and he leads the 1000 Immunomes Project mapping how our immune systems change over a lifetime.
He also studies aging where it happens fastest: space. Working with NASA, he found that spaceflight accelerates aging — bone and muscle loss, immune decline, dormant viruses waking up — largely because of microgravity. So he recreates weightlessness on the ground, keeping human cells and organoids in constant free fall to age them on demand.
That lets him do something remarkable: speed aging up in a dish to understand it — and, ultimately, to learn how to slow it down in us.
Buck Institute · StanfordInflammaging & the immunomeiAge inflammatory clockNASA · aging in space
Buck Institute · California
Where we met
At the Buck Institute
We met David at the Buck Institute in California — and, in one of the quest's more surreal moments, Marek gave a little blood to his "time machine": the instruments David uses to read biological age from the immune system. We talked about inflammation, the immune clock, and why he ages cells in a dish on purpose.
Buck Institute
Novato, California
Where he studies how the immune system drives aging — and how to measure it.
The time machine
A drop of blood
The iAge clock reads biological age from your immune data — Marek gave a sample.
Aging in space
Microgravity
Recreating weightlessness on the ground to age human cells and organoids on demand.
"We can put human cells or organoids in constant free fall — simulated microgravity — and accelerate their aging by about five years in twenty-four hours."
— David Furman, at the Buck Institute
On the quest
The Buck — and home
At homeSan Francisco, off dutyThe time machineA drop of blood for the immune clockOver coffeeThe unhurried version of the conversationThe surfboardsDavid and Alek, San FranciscoThe conversationDavid at the Buck Institute
In his words
A physical copy of you, sent forward five years
“I can take your blood, grow mini organoids, and send a physical representation of you into the future — to see how you’re going to age over the next five years.”
David Furman · at home in San Francisco
We call it the time machine, because it really takes you to the future to see what can work for you.
David Furman
Those at risk had very low caffeine intake. Those doing great — almost a linear relationship between caffeine and less age-related inflammation.
David Furman
I exercise every day. It’s a very short routine — less than five minutes, believe it or not. And my kid does it with me.
David Furman
On the days I’m not surfing, I have this constant stress and I can’t manage it as well.
David Furman
Sounds like science fiction? It’s science more than fiction.
David Furman
In his own words
Straight from the interview
From our conversation with David at the Buck Institute — how inflammation ages us, why he builds organoids, and what aging in space reveals.
His view: inflammation ages us
Chronic, low-grade inflammation is a common thread through the diseases of aging. Read the immune system well — as his iAge clock does — and you can see biological age, and where it's heading, long before symptoms.
"The immune system contributes to age-related diseases and accelerated aging across our organs."
Buck Institute · from the interview
His lab: aging in a dish
He grows organoids — tiny living tissues of a million-plus cells. Heart organoids beat, brain organoids fire and even form memory. It lets him study human aging directly, outside the body.
"Heart organoids beat, brain organoids fire — and they even develop memory."
Buck Institute · from the interview
Aging in space
Spaceflight ages the body fast — and it's mostly microgravity. So he recreates weightlessness on the ground, keeping cells in constant free fall to accelerate their aging on demand, then work backwards to slow it.
"You can accelerate the aging of human cells by about five years in twenty-four hours."
Instagram not added — I could not verify an account that is definitely his. Send the handle and I’ll add it.
From the conversation
David Furman, in his words
Video interview
The video interview is coming. Recorded interviews go live after the launch of the film & series Live Beyond.
Selected passages from two conversations with David Furman — at the Buck Institute, and at his home in San Francisco. Lightly edited for readability.
On how he got into space biology
David Furman"My background is human immunology and data science — about seventeen years at Stanford, almost five at the Buck. I study how the immune system contributes to age-related diseases. A researcher at NASA reached out and said, 'David, you're looking at inflammation and how immune cells contribute to aging — that's very relevant, because we're trying to protect our astronauts from accelerated aging.' That's how I got into space biology."
On what space does to the body
David Furman"NASA and the European Space Agency have shown spaceflight carries real risks — physiological changes that look like normal aging on the ground, but happen fast. Loss of bone and muscle mass, and especially immune decline: latent viruses that we'd normally keep silent get reactivated in space."
On why it's microgravity
David Furman"We believe it's largely microgravity. On the International Space Station you're still shielded from galactic radiation by the magnetosphere — so it's the lack of gravitational forces acting on the cells. There are sensors in our cells for mechanical forces, and they get activated when the environment of the cell changes."
The time machine — your older twin
Marek Piotrowski“You intrigued me with this time machine.”
David Furman“The time machine, or your older twin. It’s a technology based on space research. Because we can accelerate ageing in the blood and the cells I get from you, I can also have a physical representation of your organs — there are ways to take your blood and develop mini organoids. Then I have a physical representation of you that I can send to the future. I can see how you’re going to be ageing in the next five years. About five years — there’s a ceiling, you can’t go above that. We call it the time machine because it really takes you to the future to see what can work for you. And I can actually test nutraceuticals, supplements, natural extracts in your aged cells, to see how well they work on your cells.”
On coffee, and a finding he didn’t expect
David Furman“Around 2016 I was looking at my data from the 1000 Immunomes project, and we identified a pathway elevated in people who are not doing well — while older adults who are doing great have a different mechanism. We looked at lifestyle effects, things that could be explained by what they drink or the food they eat. And I found that those at risk had very low caffeine intake, and those doing great showed an almost linear relationship between caffeine intake and this type of age-related inflammation. Though it depends whether you’re a slow or fast metaboliser — there are two genetic variants. If you’re slow, you’re not going to sleep well.”
How a longevity scientist actually lives
Marek Piotrowski“How does your lifestyle look, as a longevity scientist?”
David Furman“The one thing I really pay attention to is my sleep quality. And exercising every day — it’s a very short routine, less than five minutes, believe it or not. Strength training: push-ups, handstands. Because it’s early I do them against the wall, and my kid does it with me. And I go surfing — not every day, maybe twice a week. Even if it’s not great out there, it’s good to paddle. It’s good for your cardio, but also mentally. On the days I’m not surfing, I have this constant stress and I can’t manage it as well as if I surf in the morning.”
On modelling aging in the lab
David Furman"We model microgravity on the ground with simple instruments NASA engineers developed, keeping cells or organoids in constant free fall — a weightlessness simulation. We have two of them running all the time here at the Buck, and you can accelerate the aging of human cells by about five years in twenty-four hours."
On organoids
David Furman"We create organoids — small round tissues of more than a million cells. Heart organoids beat, brain organoids fire, and they even develop memory."
Marek Piotrowski"That sounds like science fiction."
David Furman"It's science more than fiction."
More passages from the full interview will be published here.
Continue the quest
More minds on the quest
David works at the Biohacking Upgrades level of the Longevity Map — measuring and modulating the biology of aging. Here are others on the quest, and the full cast of 100+.
