Contacted list of world's richest to offer immortality Will personally oversee brain transplant into robot body Entrepreneur claims to have 30 scientists working on project Aims to 'transplant' human mind into robot body in 10 years Claims 'next stage' of science is to create a 'new human body' 'This project is leading to immortality,' says Dmitry Itskov

By Rob Waugh UPDATED: 07:42 EST, 18 July 2012

A Russian entrepreneur who heads a hi-tech research project called 'Avatar' has contacted billionaires to offer them immortality.

Itskov claims he will personally oversee their immortality process, in exchange for an undisclosed fee.

Itskov, a media entrepreneur, claims to have hired 30 scientists to reach this goal - and aims to transplant a human brain into a robot body within 10 years.

'You have the ability to finance the extension of your own life up to immortality. Our civilization has come very close to the creation of such technologies: it's not a science fiction fantasy. It is in your power to make sure that this goal will be achieved in your lifetime,' says Itskov in a letter delivered to billionaires listed in Forbes magazine.

Eternal life? Iskov, a media entrepreneur, claims to have hired 30 scientists to reach this goal - and aims to transplant a human brain into a robot body within 10 years

He has contacted a list of billionaires with a proposal for funding his quest for immortality - which Itskov refers to as 'cybernetic immortality' and the 'artificial body'.

The initiative is opening its San Francisco office this summer, and will be launching a social media project connecting scientists around the world.

'The 2045 team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring ones individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality,' says Itskov's official site.

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Russian research project offers 'immortality' to billionaires - by transplanting their brains into robot bodies