Men’s quest for immortality is as long as human civilization. We could find the ideas of elixir of life or the fountain of youth even in the earliest of mythologies and folklores. His attempt to imitate the ability of the gods however mostly resulted in tragic consequences.
While a mere two centuries ago, the human life expectancy was below 40, today the number is almost doubled thanks to modern medical science. According to UN estimation, the global life expectancy is around 72 years.
But men are not just stopping here. And men with vast wealth, the likes of the multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos, are pouring money to conquer it.
Jeff Bezos, the creator of Amazon and currently the 2nd most wealthy person on earth, is reported to have invested in Altos Labs, which is a brand-new anti-aging startup that seeks to extend human life.
Another multi-billionaire businessman and technology investor, Yuri Milner created Altos Labs early this year. While the company has not yet made a public statement about its specific intentions, it has named Richard Klausner, an American scientist who co-founded GRAIL and Juno Therapeutics and served as the head of the US National Cancer Institute, as its CEO.
Altos Labs, definitely, is not the first biotech to investigate longevity and anti-aging, and it is also not Bezos’s first effort into this technology. Earlier, Bezos reportedly invested in Unity Biotechnology, a start-up with its headquarters in California and a focus on medicines to prevent or cure the effects of aging. In its 10 years of existence, the company has also been sponsored by some big names, for example, venture capitalist Roberto Nelson, and billionaire PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.
It’s no secret that the anti-aging market is significant. The Bank of America predicts the industry will grow from an estimated $110 billion in current value to $610 billion by 2025, reported Endpoints News. According to a survey by P&S Intelligence, the worldwide anti-ageing industry is expected to grow dramatically from its present level of roughly $191.5 billion to a staggering $421.4 billion by 2030.
The next few years might be fruitful for age reversal research, with hundreds of millions of dollars being raised by wealthy investors to support the reprogramming, a biological term for transforming old cells into young.
The Science of anti-ageing tech is not just cheap talk, rather making significant strides in recent times. The first stage has been accomplished by Japanese biomedical researcher Dr. Shinya Yamanaka, who reprogrammed adult human skin cells to act like embryonic cells that can develop into any type of cell in the body. And Dr Yamanaka received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2012 for his ground-breaking research.
Google funded Calico Labs, quite similar to Atlos Labs, is also focused on reprogramming methods for making cells and tissue younger. Founded in 2013, the company’s aims involve treating age-related diseases such as cancer and neuro-degeneration. Other notable companies working in anti-aging tech include AgeX Therapeutics (another billionaire sponsored company), Shift Biosciences, Life Biosciences (US medicine company). So far, in the industry of anti-aging tech, reprogramming based treatments have gained some ground, with clinical trials in the human body. But other methods of radical therapies are also being contemplated.
Nevertheless, the primary aim of anti-aging therapies is quality of health in old age, not simply longevity. A longer healthspan translates into a healthier, and more active life. It’s not the same to live a longer life racked with illness and agony. Age reversal and anti-aging are the primary priorities for it. And to be fair, in this respect, the progress is immense.
Wealthy people like Bezos seem to believe that extended youth may one day become a reality. While it may be claimed that corporate moguls’ desire to combat natural aging stems from a futile desire to master the one aspect of their lives they haven’t yet mastered, cutting-edge biotech companies like Altos Labs have established solid research that might make it achievable.
Death or aging is not an inevitable fact for those looking for solutions to extend human life; rather, it is a challenge that has to be overcome. For most silicon valley aging (ultimately death) is a problem to be solved.
However, it remains to be seen if mankind will be able to find a solution, but businesses like Altos and its financial backers are placing an early wager that they will. If a breakthrough occurs in the next several decades, it will undoubtedly usher in a new perspective on human health and a life sciences sector with practically infinite potential.
Anti-aging therapies are not for everyone because they are an extremely pricey procedure. Although some people may profit, many people have little control over the revolutionary process. On the contrary, because of how costly it is, it greatly widens the class gap between members of various economic categories. The simple fact that consuming anti-aging drugs or treatments strengthens the class divide calls into question their morality.
Author- Sumiya Rahman
