Zhores Medvedev and his twin brother Roy were born on 14 November 1925 in Tbilisi, Transcaucasian SFSR, USSR.

Their mother Yulia (nee Reiman), was a cellist, and their father, Alexander Medvedev, was a philosopher in a military academy in Leningrad.

In 1962, Medvedev wrote his book on the history of Soviet genetics, which passed an editorial review but was withheld by state censors.

Between 1968 and 1970, Medvedev wrote two more books: International Cooperation of Scientists and National Frontiers [5] and Secrecy of Correspondence is Guaranteed by Law (about postal censorship in the USSR).

In 1971, Medvedev was given the job of senior scientist of the Institute of Physiology and Biochemistry of Farm Animals in Borovsk, in the Kaluga region.

[2] In London, Medvedev acted as his brother Roy's representative, managing his publishing contracts and financial affairs.

[11] He received the Aging Research Award from the United States Association of Biogerontology in 1984 and the Rene Schubert Prize in Gerontology in 1985.