The quest to extend human life has long been a focus for those with extreme wealth. And our generation of tech billionaires is no different. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos invested in Altos Labs, Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin invested in Calico, and Peter Thiel was an early backer of Unity Biotechnology.
Beyond the clickbait headline to this article, there is some fascinating research coming out of the billions being poured into this space. And while the answer to the headline’s question may remain “no” for a long time, hopefully the research will lead to medical breakthroughs that will improve people’s quality of life, even if they keep ageing.
This study in Boston was able to give old, blind mice their eyesight back, develop smarter and younger brains and build healthier muscle and kidney tissue. The research team are now turning their attention to do a similar genetic reset on primates.
But for any tech billionaires reading this (which we’re sure there are) don’t get too excited yet. The research team thinks the possibility of human trials would still be decades away.
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