Jeff Bezos Funds Altos Labs, A Startup Aiming To Extend The Average Human Lifespan Up To 50 Years
Sept. 7, 2021, 11:51 a.m.
Jeff Bezos has reportedly invested in a newly-formed startup Altos Labs. Altos Labs aims to extend the average human lifespan by up to 50 years using an anti-aging technology.
Altos Labs was founded earlier this year by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner. The billionaire has been said to hire several leading longevity scientists to develop a radical form of biological reprogramming technology that would rejuvenate cells.
Among those hired is Spanish scientist Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte. He is infamous for his controversial work on mixing human and monkey embryos and predicts he will be able to extend life expectancy by 50 years.
When Belmonte tested his findings on live mice, they showed signs of age reversal - however, some mice developed deadly tumors called teratomas, even as others showed signs their tissues had become younger.
Also joining is Steve Horvath, a UCLA professor, and developer of a “biological clock” that can accurately measure human aging.
Shinya Yamanaka, Nobel Prize winner and stem cell researcher will join the team but will be an unpaid senior scientist and will chair the company’s scientific advisory board.
Yamanaka discovered the Yamanaka factors thus, with the addition of four proteins, cells can be instructed to revert to a primitive state with the properties of embryonic stem cells.
Altos Labs hopes to now further this and other research until it can reverse aging in every part of the body - but it may be decades before the technologies are fit for human trials.
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“The philosophy of Altos Labs is to do curiosity-driven research. This is what I know how to do and love to do,” Altos researcher Manuel Serrano told Technology Review.
“In this case, through a private company, we have the freedom to be bold and explore. The aim is to understand rejuvenation. I would say the idea of having revenue in the future is there, but it’s not the immediate goal.”
Bezos is said to have been interested in the field for some time, after previously investing in anti-aging company Unity Biotechnology. Mr. Bezos, who turned 57 this year, is among the company’s early investors, according to insiders speaking to MIT Technology Review.
The Amazon founder is currently the world’s richest person with an estimated net worth of $201 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
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