“We want to make it so we live 5,000 years, 10,000 years, however long we want to live”

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Zoltan Istvan ran for the American presidency in 2016 as part of the transhumanism movement. He argues humans should be able to live for “5,000 years, 10,000 years, however long we want” within a matter of decades. As part of his 2016 campaign he drove from California to Washington DC in a coach decorated as a coffin, nicknamed the ‘immortality bus’.

Transhumanists believe technology can and should be used to expand human capabilities, potentially including the elimination of natural death. Many transhumanists think this will be achieved by a partial merger of humans and machines. Speaking to Express.co.uk Mr Istvan said: “I have two children, I don’t want them to die. “I want to save them and the way we save them is not through prayers and thoughts, the way we save them is through radical new science and radical new technology. “A third of everybody you know will die from heart disease but transhumanists are not interested in improving the heart, we’re interested in replacing the heart with something bionic because we think the heart is a frail mechanism that’s designed only to last 60 or 70 years. READ MORE: Donald Trump impeachment - James Comey REJECTS calls to impeach rival

Zoltan Istvan pictured with the 'immortality bus' during the 2016 campaign

“We want to make it so we live 5,000 years, 10,000 years, however long we want to live.” Transhumanists argue natural human capabilities can be expanded on with the help of technology, which can be inserted directly into the body if necessary. While this technology remains in its infancy, some transhumanists have already started augmenting their bodies. These include Mr Istvan, who had a tiny chip inserted into his hand while on the presidential campaign trail in 2016. He explained: “I have a tiny chip in my hand. It opens front doors, it sends out a text message, you can do all sorts of things. “There are now thousands of people around the world with these kinds of implants.” READ MORE: Trump election polls latest - 'Trump should be SCARED' of approval DROP

Zoltan Istvan campaigning ahead of the 2020 presidential election

Transhumanism has been growing rapidly as a political movement over the past few years. There are now registered transhumanist party’s across the world, including in the UK. Mr Istvan stated: “It’s grown a lot since 2016 there’s no question about that. “Especially in terms of venture funding going into the life extension industry and other people pushing forth goals like that. “Pretty soon millions of people will say ‘yer I subscribe to transhumanism or I don’t mind some upgrades in my body’. “Right now I think most people would probably say no to upgrades but that’s going to change, that’s changing every year.”

Zoltan Istvan campaigning ahead of the 2016 presidential election

The transhumanist movement is particularly strong in technology communities, especially the Silicon Valley area of California where Mr Istvan lives. Noted tech entrepreneurs, such as PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, have poured money into life extension research. Mr Istvan suggested he could run for the presidency again in 2020, this time potentially seeking the candidacy of a major party. He commented: “I’m probably going to run in 2020 again, I haven’t made that final decision yet and I’ll probably wait another month or two. “I can tell you that I’m going to join one of the major parties, America is setup such that there are only really two political parties.”

Zoltan Istvan pictured during his 2016 presidential campaign