Michael Lim runs a stem-cell clinic and biotechnology laboratory in Kuala Lumpur. The distinction he insists on is the whole point of his work: he is not transplanting stem cells into you. He is switching the ones you already have back on.
His team isolates a protein from umbilical cord — something every one of us was exposed to as a baby, which is part of why the body accepts it readily — and introduces it so that it passes through the cell wall. Your own mesenchymal stem cells then reactivate, begin replicating, and travel to wherever the body has been signalling for help.
The day before treatment there is a pre-booster, deliberately quietening the routine background noise so that the genuinely persistent problems call louder and get found first. Patients tend to notice the fastest-repairing tissues first: skin, gut, cornea, liver. His favourite tell is that after the liver improves, a glass of wine hits much harder than it used to.
He started in Singapore and moved the operation to Malaysia in 2014, when research and development costs made that the sensible place to build. Over twelve years he has treated more than a thousand people and followed them up throughout. Two of his long-term patients died recently at 100 and 102. He does not market: the practice grew by word of mouth. And he was, as he puts it, his own first guinea pig.
Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaMesenchymal stem cellsUmbilical-cord proteinHealthspan, not lifespan
With Marek, mid-procedure · Kuala Lumpur
The day before his father’s treatment
Where we met
Of all the interviews on the quest, this is the one with something personal riding on it. Marek was going to have the treatment the following day, and it was Aleksander who sat down to interview the man who would perform it. He didn’t open with a question about the science. He opened by saying that this felt like a big thing his father was about to do, and asking Michael to assure him it was safe.
The clinic
Kuala Lumpur
Consultation, then a pre-booster day to prepare the body before anything else.
The whiteboard
The explanation
Michael drawing out how the protein gets through the cell wall and what happens next.
The treatment
The next day
Marek on the table — and Alek having asked, first, whether his father would be alright.
“I just want you to assure me he’s safe.” — “He’s safe. And your father’s not a guinea pig. The first guinea pig was myself.”
— Aleksander Piotrowski and Michael Lim, Kuala Lumpur
On the quest
Inside the clinic
On the tableMarek, the following dayThe procedureMichael administering the treatmentThe proteinIsolated from umbilical cordReceptionAlek, asking questions before the day beginsThe whiteboardHow the protein gets through the wallKuala Lumpur at nightThe Petronas Towers — 2023The treatmentMarek’s stem-cell therapy at the clinic — 2023
In his words
Our definition of longevity is health span
“Our definition of longevity is health span. We don’t know life span yet — we’re focused on keeping you healthy inside your health span, and extending the time.”
Michael Lim · Kuala Lumpur
Your father’s not a guinea pig. We’ve done over a thousand, and we’ve followed up with our patients for twelve years. The first guinea pig was myself.
Michael Lim
We take a protein your body has used before, from the umbilical cord, and add it to your system — it kickstarts your own stem cells to work healthily.
Michael Lim
The stem cell grows its own stem cell. Then they go and home in on the places that need help.
Michael Lim
We are slowly slowing down the dynamic aging process. That’s all.
Michael Lim
In his own words
Straight from the interview
From Aleksander’s conversation with Michael in Kuala Lumpur — what the treatment actually does, what you notice first, and the exchange about what longevity is really for.
What it actually does
Not a transplant. A protein isolated from umbilical cord passes through the cell wall, and the body’s own mesenchymal stem cells reactivate — replicating, then travelling to wherever the body has been signalling for repair.
“It will kickstart all your stem cells to get activated to work healthily.”
Kuala Lumpur · from the interview
What you notice first
The fastest-repairing tissues report back soonest: skin, gut, taste, breathing, stamina, the cornea — and the liver, which produces his favourite piece of evidence, since a repaired liver makes a single glass of wine land far harder than before.
“Your eyes start to glow, because corneal regeneration improves.”
Kuala Lumpur · from the interview
Where Alek took it
Alek pushed past the procedure to the point of it — that the goal isn’t simply more years, but compressing the decline at the end. Michael agreed immediately; it is how he defines his own work.
“You’re not dying for twenty years. You’re dying for a little period of time — and living, before that.”
The video interview is coming. Recorded interviews go live after the launch of the film & series Live Beyond.
Selected passages from Aleksander Piotrowski’s conversation with Michael Lim — Kuala Lumpur, October 2023, the day before Marek’s treatment. Lightly edited for readability.
The first question
Aleksander Piotrowski“I feel like it’s a big thing that my father is doing now. And I just want you to assure me he’s safe.”
Michael Lim“He’s safe. We’re not too worried about safety, for a very simple reason: we’ve been doing this twelve years. We’ve treated over a thousand clients, and we follow up with our patients. When we isolate the protein we have our own technology to prevent even allergy, so when it goes into the body it’s very receptive. And this protein — you were exposed to it before, when you were a baby. We take it from the umbilical cord. Your father’s not a guinea pig. The first guinea pig was myself.”
On why there’s a day of preparation first
Michael Lim“First we do a consultation to see your body and how it functions, and any problems — hypertension, diabetes, whatever. Then we do a pre-booster, a kind of detox, so that a lot of the signals asking for help will be quietened. Then tomorrow, the more persistent problems call for help more — and when we activate it, it goes to those places to help your body.”
On what happens inside the body
Aleksander Piotrowski“Please explain to me what will actually be happening in my father’s body after the whole treatment.”
Michael Lim“Once we put in the proteins, they’re absorbed into the cell — the cell walls have what we call communication walls, and we have our own way to make sure the door opens. Then your father’s stem cells receive the proteins, and it kickstarts them to rejuvenate. Not only rejuvenate, but increase their ability to grow their own. The mesenchymal stem cells grow on their own, and then they go and home in on the places he needs help.”
On what you notice, and in what order
Michael Lim“The face and the skin are the first areas you see the benefit — skin is very sensitive to stem cell rejuvenation. Then the intestine: constipation improves, IBS improves. Your taste buds improve, your breathing improves, then your stamina. Your eyes start to glow, because corneal regeneration improves. It always starts with the tissues with the highest ability to repair — the cornea, the liver. And after the liver improves, the first thing your father will realise is that a glass of wine or two will make him feel tipsy very fast.”
On why Malaysia
Michael Lim“We started in Singapore — we were the pioneers there. Around 2014 there was a lot of migration of good companies from Singapore to Malaysia, and the operating cost here was much cheaper, so I had the opportunity to get the equipment at a better price. That’s why I gave birth to all this in Malaysia, so the cost of R&D isn’t so high. R&D is a very expensive endeavour.”
On who it reaches, and who it doesn’t
Aleksander Piotrowski“How do we improve the cost of it, so it’s actually less expensive?”
Michael Lim“Volume. Our treatment is not a cheap treatment — the age that usually does it is around forty to sixty. We’ve treated people in their eighties and nineties. Two of our patients, who were with us for the last eight or nine years, just passed on at 102 and at 100. We’re quite proud of them. We’re also doing animal studies and progressing to clinical trials. We don’t market ourselves — it’s all word of mouth.”
On what it’s all for
Michael Lim“It’s an ongoing process. We are slowly slowing down the dynamic aging process. That’s all. We don’t think too far away — for us, our definition of longevity is health span. We don’t know life span yet. The only two people who could tell you are 102 and 100 years old.”
Aleksander Piotrowski“I feel like our main goal should be to shorten the death period. You should live as long as you can in a healthy state — so you’re not dying for twenty years. You’re dying for a little period of time, and you’re living, before that.”
Michael Lim“Correct.”
More passages from the full interview will be published here.
Continue the quest
More minds on the quest
Michael works at the Biohacking Upgrades level of the Longevity Map — repair, and what the body can be persuaded to do for itself. Here are others on the quest, and the full cast of 100+.
