‘Immortals’: Crazy billion-dollar project to find ‘elixir of life’ starring Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, Larry Page and Sergey Brin

Tram Ho

When Nir Barzilai became an expert in anti-aging 30 years ago, the industry was still a distant hope for scientists.

But now, more and more billionaires are pouring money into this segment when many groundbreaking studies are born, which can turn tech giants like Jeff Bezos, Larry Page and Sergey Brin into “Immortals”.

We are past the time of daydreaming. This is the time to make commitments ,” said Barzilai, director of the Anti-Aging Research Institute at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

This expert is conducting a pioneering experiment with the drug Metformin, used to treat diabetes, to see if it can prolong life by many years, after optimistic results in the UK on real patients. .

If Metformin is recognized by the authorities as having anti-aging effects, then director Barzilai believes that countless giants in the pharmaceutical and biological industries will jump into this industry.

If confirmed, I think this will be a seismic event for the whole world ,” Barzilai said.

‘Người bất tử’: Dự án điên rồ hàng tỷ USD tìm 'thuốc trường sinh' với sự tham gia của Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, Larry Page và Sergey Brin - Ảnh 1.

The anti-aging industry is heating up

elixir of life

The Financial Times (FT) commented that mankind’s search for the elixir of life has lasted for centuries, from the invention of vaccines, to the production of medicines, functional foods to living methods. Food prolongs life.

In the UK, life expectancy has doubled between 1841 and 2011.

However, currently, biological companies have not yet dared to commit to “immortality” for the projects they are working on. Much of this work is aimed at increasing the healthy lifespan of mankind, but not enough to prolong life forever. The main goal is to end the expensive expenses of the elderly as well as increase labor productivity for the working life.

Currently, Mr. Barzilai has raised $ 22 million, including $ 9 million from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and is working hard to earn enough $ 50-75 million for a 4-6 year project in the world. .

According to director Barzilai, it is difficult to raise capital for a project that is not yet groundbreaking when companies only want immediate profits, while the government prefers anti-epidemic projects.

In fact, the main sponsors for this segment come from technology billionaires, many of which, like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin… all have investments in startups. anti-aging project.

These are investors with enough financial potential to accept the sacrifice of immediate profits in order to achieve immortality.

In 2021, the anti-aging project Altos Lab of former director Rick Klausner of the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) raised up to 3 billion USD, including famous investors like Jeff Bezos.

Meanwhile, Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have also poured billions of dollars into Calico’s research. According to the FT, Alphabet (Google) has now committed to pour another $3.5 billion into this project.

‘Người bất tử’: Dự án điên rồ hàng tỷ USD tìm 'thuốc trường sinh' với sự tham gia của Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, Larry Page và Sergey Brin - Ảnh 2.

Similarly, famous investor Peter Thiel is also behind the research of Unity Biotechnology, a pharmaceutical company that listed on Nasdaq in 2018.

Of course, receiving investments from billionaires is also controversial when successful, society will be more divided.

The rich you are, the longer you live, the richer you become, the greater your influence, while the poor are unlikely to touch that elixir of life, ” said Christopher Wareham of Ultrecht University. .

What is death?

In the process of research, scientists always ask the question what aging is. In 2013, a group of researchers identified nine signs of aging and suggested that it was the genetic code and biochemical systems in the body that led to the decline in function and death of the body.

Now, instead of just asking basic questions or accepting the aging process passively, many projects have begun to work, said Eric Verdin, CEO of the Buck Institute on Aging Research (BIRA) in California. change them.

The opinion of the scientific community is making significant progress when aging is no longer considered a natural process but a factor that causes disease and reduced productivity.

The world’s biggest risk factor for disease isn’t obesity or smoking, it’s aging ,” said CEO Eric Verdin.

Sharing the same view, Cambrian Biopharma CEO James Peyer said researchers are trying to develop next-generation drugs that can fight aging and have the same safety as vaccines or antibiotics.

One of the breakthroughs of this “elixir of life” is to reverse the biological clock of the body cells by using the rejuvenation factors (Rejuvenation Factors), thereby not only rejuvenating the cells. but also reverse other pathological processes.

‘Người bất tử’: Dự án điên rồ hàng tỷ USD tìm 'thuốc trường sinh' với sự tham gia của Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, Larry Page và Sergey Brin - Ảnh 3.

Life expectancy in England doubled between 1841 and 2011

In addition, scientists are also finding ways to address the accumulation of “aged” cells in the elderly. These are cells that do not divide but also do not die, persist and are one of the main causes of health problems.

Research by the Mayo Clinic in the US on mice shows that if these “old” cells die instead of surviving, living individuals will be healthy and survive 20-30% longer than mice. often.

However, these projects have only been tested on animals and to be able to produce “elixir of life” in the human body is a long way away.

While tests on mice can see results quickly, scientists can’t wait a few lifetimes to see if the human reagent really works or if there are any genetic sequelae. .

That is not to mention the current laws and regulations when “aging” is not currently considered a disease-causing factor by any country, while if it is a “medicine”, it must cure a certain disease. prescribed production.

Because there is no precedent, if successfully researched, the “elixir of life” will also face a lot of trouble to be able to appear on the market.

Going back to Barzilai’s Metformin, although research shows that this drug has the ability to prolong life, when working with the authorities in the UK, the effect of the drug will be to treat stroke, heart failure, cancer. letter, insane… if you want to pass the test.

*Source: FT

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Source : Genk