Why is medical research into aging uniquely controversial?

(written by Lawrence Krubner, however indented passages are often quotes)

I do find this puzzling. Research into aging seems to be uniquely controversial.

About the Methuselah Foundation, I’ve been very interested in biomedical research, and one area that’s been very underfunded is research on the causes of aging and what to do to slow down the aging process. It’s sort of odd to me why people find it so controversial. It seems to me that in general, it’s something that people would be very supportive of – that people could live longer and healthier lives. Meanwhile, Methuselah has done an incredible amount of good work on a very modest budget, including organize conferences to get people together on the topic and inspire a lot of people involved. Transhumanism has all kinds of weird connotations [but] I think it’s worth supporting the research even if it’s unlikely that I’ll personally benefit from it. I’d still be supporting it if I were 90 years old and expected to die in six months.