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By Agostino Petroni
On a warm July evening in 2022, the residents of Varapodio, a small town in the southern Italian province of Calabria, came together for a celebration. A marching band played classical tunes in front of the church, which was adorned with hundreds of multi-coloured fairy lights. A priest stood solemnly holding a silver chalice of holy water as the mayor cheerfully shook hands with some of the guests – around 100 people of all ages, many of whom were dressed in their Sunday best.
The party had been thrown in honour of Valter Longo, an Italian scientist known for his research into the benefits of fasting. Longo lives between Milan, where he works at the Institute of Molecular Oncology (IFOM), and Los Angeles, where he is the director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California (USC). A slim, suave 56-year-old with messy brown hair, he wore jeans and a black shirt with rolled-up sleeves. Smiling, Longo cut a festive ribbon with scissors given to him by the mayor; the priest sprinkled him with holy water as onlookers applauded. Afterwards everyone moved slowly towards the town square to hear Longo tell them the secret of how to prolong their lives.