On Wednesday, Google introduced that it’s getting within the immortality recreation, with the launch of an absurdly formidable new enterprise that actually goals to cease demise. It burned by means of the media, spurred by a TIME cowl story. But Google is hardly the primary Silicon Valley large to combat outdated age.
Tech titans have poured thousands and thousands into the multibillion greenback anti-growing old trade, and, maybe unsurprisingly, the Valley stays a hotbed for the transhumanist motion, which goals to basically remodel the human situation, utilizing new applied sciences to improve our mental, psychological, and bodily capabilities—together with our capability to dwell eternally.
So far, we don’t know a lot about this new Google firm, besides that it’s referred to as Calico and might be led by Arthur Levinson, the previous CEO of biotech pioneer Genentech, who can be chairman of the board at Apple. According to the Google press release, Calico—an abbreviation for California Life Company—“will deal with well being and effectively-being, specifically the problem of getting older and related ailments.”
exclusive TIME magazine interview that accompanied Wednesday’s announcement, Google CEO Larry Page made it clear that his ambitions for Calico are much more grandiose. The new enterprise is a “moonshot,” Page says, a phrase he makes use of to describe Google’s typically outlandish makes an attempt to carry the world into the long run.
“Are individuals actually centered on the appropriate issues?” Page advised TIME. “One of the issues I thought was superb is that should you remedy most cancers, you’d add about three years to folks’s common life expectancy. We consider fixing most cancers as this enormous factor that’ll completely change the world. But whenever you actually take a step again and take a look at it, yeah, there are a lot of, many tragic circumstances of most cancers, and it is very, very unhappy, however within the mixture, it isn’t as huge an advance as you would possibly assume.”
In different phrases, curing most cancers isn’t large enough. In reality, Page means that the last word objective of Calico is to remedy, or relatively “clear up,” getting older and loss of life—a quixotic purpose even for an organization that’s constructing a driverless car and desires to use helium balloons to develop Internet entry.
But whereas Calico could also be some of the most excessive-profile and effectively-funded makes an attempt to cease the getting old course of, Page and Co. are hardly the primary Silicon Valley dreamers to seek for the Fountain of Youth. Here’s a rundown of Silicon Valley’s latest makes an attempt to discover immortality:
Ellison Medical Foundation: Founded by billionaire Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, the fifth-richest particular person on this planet, the Ellison Medical Foundation doles out greater than $forty million a yr for analysis within the biology of growing older, in accordance to government director Kevin Lee. The final objective of the Ellison Medical Foundation is just not immortality, Lee mentioned, however to discover cures for the illnesses that accompany getting old. “It’s about remaining wholesome for so long as potential,” Lee instructed me. “I suppose that is very potential. There’s good purpose to stay optimistic.”
Ellison, who is alleged to be obsessive about youth, age, and science, is maybe probably the most outstanding Fountain of Youth seeker in Silicon Valley. “Death has by no means made any sense to me,” Ellison instructed his biographer, Mark Wilson. “How can an individual be there after which simply vanish, simply not be there? Clearly the rationale they are not there may be they’re off doing one thing else… Death makes me very offended. Premature dying makes me angrier nonetheless.”
Prior to creating the Ellison Medical Foundation, the Oracle billionaire invested within the now-failed biotech agency Aeiveos, which had deliberate to examine the genetic make-up of centenarians. The firm, which barely survived previous its infancy, was created by an early Oracle worker Robert Bradbury, an Extropian who believed that genetic engineering might delay life.
Founders Fund: Led by billionaire PayPal cofounder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel, Founders Fund’s mottois “We needed flying automobiles, as an alternative we acquired one hundred forty characters.” Thiel, Silicon Valley’s leading techno-libertarian futurist,has been identified to dabble in transhumanism, and his enterprise capital fund invests closely in biotech and synthetic intelligence. Although these investments have been hit-or-miss—Halcyon Molecular, whose founder claimed he would live for “millions, billions, hundreds of billions of years,” tanked final yr—Thiel is not possible to surrender on his seek for the Fountain of Youth.
The SENS Research Foundation: Another Thiel-backed enterprise, this Mountain View nonprofit is dedicated to the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence, a spread of regenerative medical therapies that restore injury to human tissue with the final word aim of suspending growing old. The basis was co-based by British biogerontologist and notable transhumanist Aubrey de Grey, who claims that “the primary individual to stay to be M,000 years previous is actually alive in the present day.” Grey can be the co-founding father of The Methuselah Foundation, which additionally obtained a hefty donation from Thiel.
Glenn Foundation for Medical Research: Funded by a 9-determine endowment by veteran California enterprise capitalist Paul E. Glenn, the Glenn Foundation’s stated objective is to “lengthen the wholesome productive years of life by way of analysis on the mechanisms of organic getting old.” Like Thiel, Glenn has additionally donated to de Grey’s Methuselah Foundation.
Elixir Pharmaceuticals: A genomics-primarily based drug firm, Elixir is attempting to make a capsule that may decelerate the ageing course of and forestall age-associated ailments. The firm was co-based by Ellison Scholar Cynthia Kenyon, a molecular biologist recognized for locating a gene that prolonged the lifespan of worms 300 p.c.
Maximum Life Foundation: Founded by human longevity advocate David Kekich, the Maximum Life Foundation identifies and helps rising medical applied sciences with the objective of reversing the human ageing course of by 2033. According to the foundation’s website, Maximum Life has “developed a inventive funding technique that mixes capital preservation, liquidity, an annual dividend and enterprise capital returns… whereas growing applied sciences which might be designed to lengthen wholesome lifespans by 20 years or extra.”
The 2045 Initiative: Although not technically a Silicon Valley enterprise, the is without doubt one of the extra bold makes an attempt to make human beings immortal. The 2045 initiative goals to obtain immortality inside three a long time, and plans to achieve this by altering human evolution as we all know it. From Itskov’s manifesto on 2045.com: “We imagine that earlier than 2045 a man-made physique might be created that won’t solely surpass the present physique when it comes to performance, however will obtain perfection of kind and be no much less engaging than the human physique. People will make impartial selections in regards to the extension of their lives and the chances for private improvement in a brand new physique after the sources of the organic physique have been exhausted.”
On Wednesday, Google announced that it is getting in the immortality game, with the launch of an absurdly ambitious new venture that literally aims to stop death. It burned through the media, spurred by a TIME cover story. But Google is hardly the first Silicon Valley giant to fight old age.
Tech titans have poured millions into the multibillion dollar anti-aging industry, and, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Valley remains a hotbed for the transhumanist movement, which aims to fundamentally transform the human condition, using new technologies to enhance our intellectual, psychological, and physical capabilities—including our ability to live forever.
So far, we don’t know much about this new Google company, except that it is called Calico and will be led by Arthur Levinson, the former CEO of biotech pioneer Genentech, who is also chairman of the board at Apple. According to the Google press release, Calico—an abbreviation for California Life Company—“will focus on health and well-being, in particular the challenge of aging and associated diseases.”
exclusive TIME magazine interview that accompanied Wednesday’s announcement, Google CEO Larry Page made it clear that his ambitions for Calico are far more grandiose. The new venture is a “moonshot,” Page says, a word he uses to describe Google’s often outlandish attempts to bring the world into the future.
"Are people really focused on the right things?" Page told TIME. "One of the things I thought was amazing is that if you solve cancer, you'd add about three years to people's average life expectancy. We think of solving cancer as this huge thing that'll totally change the world. But when you really take a step back and look at it, yeah, there are many, many tragic cases of cancer, and it's very, very sad, but in the aggregate, it's not as big an advance as you might think."
In other words, curing cancer isn’t big enough. In fact, Page suggests that the ultimate goal of Calico is to cure, or rather “solve,” aging and death—a quixotic goal even for a company that is building a driverless car and wants to use helium balloons to expand Internet access.
But while Calico may be one of the most most high-profile and well-funded attempts to stop the aging process, Page and Co. are hardly the first Silicon Valley dreamers to search for the Fountain of Youth. Here’s a rundown of Silicon Valley’s recent attempts to find immortality:
Ellison Medical Foundation: Founded by billionaire Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, the fifth-richest person in the world, the Ellison Medical Foundation doles out more than $40 million a year for research in the biology of aging, according to executive director Kevin Lee. The ultimate goal of the Ellison Medical Foundation is not immortality, Lee said, but to find cures for the diseases that accompany aging. "It's about remaining healthy for as long as possible," Lee told me. "I think this is very possible. There's good reason to remain optimistic."
Ellison, who is said to be obsessed with youth, age, and science, is perhaps the most prominent Fountain of Youth seeker in Silicon Valley. "Death has never made any sense to me," Ellison told his biographer, Mark Wilson. "How can a person be there and then just vanish, just not be there? Clearly the reason they're not there is they're off doing something else... Death makes me very angry. Premature death makes me angrier still.''
Prior to creating the Ellison Medical Foundation, the Oracle billionaire invested in the now-failed biotech firm Aeiveos, which had planned to study the genetic makeup of centenarians. The company, which barely survived past its infancy, was created by an early Oracle employee Robert Bradbury, an Extropian who believed that genetic engineering could prolong life.
Founders Fund: Led by billionaire PayPal cofounder and early Facebook investor Peter Thiel, Founders Fund's motto is "We wanted flying cars, instead we got 140 characters." Thiel, Silicon Valley's leading techno-libertarian futurist, has been known to dabble in transhumanism, and his venture capital fund invests heavily in biotech and artificial intelligence. Although these investments have been hit-or-miss—Halcyon Molecular, whose founder claimed he would live for “millions, billions, hundreds of billions of years," tanked last year—Thiel isn't likely to give up on his search for the Fountain of Youth.
The SENS Research Foundation: Another Thiel-backed venture, this Mountain View nonprofit is dedicated to the Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence, a range of regenerative medical therapies that repair damage to human tissue with the ultimate goal of postponing aging. The foundation was co-founded by British biogerontologist and notable transhumanist Aubrey de Grey, who claims that "the first person to live to be 1,000 years old is certainly alive today." Grey is also the co-founder of The Methuselah Foundation, which also received a hefty donation from Thiel.
Glenn Foundation for Medical Research: Funded by a nine-figure endowment by veteran California venture capitalist Paul F. Glenn, the Glenn Foundation's stated objective is to “extend the healthy productive years of life through research on the mechanisms of biological aging.” Like Thiel, Glenn has also donated to de Grey's Methuselah Foundation.
Elixir Pharmaceuticals: A genomics-based drug company, Elixir is trying to make a pill that would slow down the aging process and forestall age-related diseases. The company was co-founded by Ellison Scholar Cynthia Kenyon, a molecular biologist known for discovering a gene that extended the lifespan of worms 300 percent.
Maximum Life Foundation: Founded by human longevity advocate David Kekich, the Maximum Life Foundation identifies and supports emerging medical technologies with the goal of reversing the human aging process by 2033. According to the foundation's website, Maximum Life has "developed a creative investment strategy that combines capital preservation, liquidity, an annual dividend and venture capital returns... while developing technologies that are designed to extend healthy lifespans by 20 years or more."
The 2045 Initiative: Although not technically a Silicon Valley venture, the is one of the more ambitious attempts to make human beings immortal. The 2045 initiative aims to achieve immortality within three decades, and plans to do so by changing human evolution as we know it. From Itskov's manifesto on 2045.com: "We believe that before 2045 an artificial body will be created that will not only surpass the existing body in terms of functionality, but will achieve perfection of form and be no less attractive than the human body. People will make independent decisions about the extension of their lives and the possibilities for personal development in a new body after the resources of the biological body have been exhausted."
