The Secret of Longevity: How the World's Richest People Are Trying to Find Immortality Technology

Concrete results so far are very few.

A US startup, Altos Labs, has emerged to explore biological reprogramming technology: “rejuvenating” old cells and theoretically extending human lifespan. 

The list of the startup's investors is closed, but according to MIT Technology Review, Jeff Bezos is funding the research. We look at who else is searching for the secret of longevity and what progress has been made in this field. 

Altos Labs

The startup focuses on cell reprogramming technology, which originated in the 1950s and 1960s. At that time, it was believed that the process of turning stem cells into mature cells was irreversible, but biologist John Gurdon suggested that the genome of every cell contains information that can be used to turn it back into a stem cell. 

He conducted an experiment to confirm his hypothesis. In 2006, Professor Shinya Yamanaka identified four genes that are active only in stem cells. 

“Yamanaka factors” give humanity hope that the search for the secret of longevity and eternal youth may succeed. If the method can be adapted for humans, they could “rejuvenate” individual tissues or even the entire body. 

For all of its research, Altos Labs has brought together the best specialists in the field, including Shinya Yamanaka himself, who heads the project's scientific advisory board. However, many researchers are skeptical of Altos Labs. 

Alejandro Ocampo
biochemist

The concept is strong, but there is a lot of hype around it. In fact, the technology is risky and still far from therapy. 

Improving the technology will take years. Researchers will have to learn to control reprogramming and also determine whether it is safe for animals and humans. 

Who else is funding the secret of immortality

In addition to Bezos, research into immortality and longevity is actively funded by other well-known businessmen: Oracle founder Larry Ellison and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The 77-year-old Ellison has repeatedly said that death makes no sense to him: “How can a person exist and then simply disappear, cease to exist?”.

In 1997, he founded the Ellison Medical Foundation, a non-profit organization whose goal is to achieve immortality or at least a better understanding of why people age. Since 1998, the foundation has paid grants of $40 million each year to companies working on immortality research. 

Unfortunately, these companies have not yet made a single sensational discovery. A similar story has unfolded with the project of British billionaire Aubrey de Grey, who for 20 years has devoted himself, as a 58-year-old scientist, to studying the mechanism of aging. He concluded that aging is not a natural process but a disease, and that there is already “all the necessary knowledge” to overcome it. 

In 2013, Google co-founders Page and Brin created the startup Calico, a number of whose studies are devoted to aging and biological reprogramming. The company does not give interviews or issue detailed press releases. 

Scientists suggest that the secrecy is due to the company preparing for a “grand discovery.” 

Different opinions

Some believe that people who are wealthy and healthy enough by 2050–2100 will have a chance to live to see immortality. The forecasts of Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari are more modest. He believes that hoping for “eternal youth” in the 21st century is not worth it. 

Yuval Noah Harari
historian

Calico will probably not solve the problem of death quickly enough and will not be able to make Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page immortal. However, the company will most likely make important discoveries in cell biology, gene therapy and human health. Future generations of Google employees may approach the problem of death differently. Scientists who talk about immortality are like the boy who cried “Wolf!” Sooner or later, the wolf really does come. 

One way or another, access to immortality will be far from universal, available only to the richest people on the planet. Although they may gain the ability to live long, they will still be shielded from disease, accidents and injuries.