There are dozens of startups challenging the limits of science. (Photo: AFP)
the road to “eternal life” it is shrouded in ethical dilemmas and legal hurdles. Implants, DNA reprogramming, tissue engineering and digital awareness are some of the recipes that scientists are testing — which are protected by the economic shield of some referents. technology– for fight against biological limitations.
From Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk to Larry Page and Sergey Brin (founders of Google), Mark Zuckerberg or the British tycoon Jim Mellonmany tycoons started investing biotech or neuroscience startups to break a clinical boundary that is so far unresolved.
The ambition of these mega-millionaires, accustomed to the belief that there is a technological solution for every problem, is cure aging like a pain that can be reversed with one click.
People will join forces with the machines.
The theoretical framework for this concept is the work of Peter Diamandis, President of the XPrize Foundation. In an essay published in SingularityHub argues that in the next 30 years we will move from Darwinian natural selection to evolution based on meta-intelligence.
Which implies that through cybernetic implants, all the thoughts and beliefs of mankind will be associated with the cloudwhich will contribute to the use of community information and prolong the lifespan of mortals on the planet.
Altos Labs, the project of Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos, obsessed with the formula of eternity. AFP
The founder of Amazon, along with the Russian millionaire Yuri Milnersponsor of Altos Labs, a startup with great therapeutic potential, whose goal is to find a formula that vaccines the body against dementia.
One of the swordsmen of this project was Shinya Yamanaka, winner of the Nobel Prize in medicine in 2012 for demonstrating that, through four proteins, cells can acquire the properties of embryonic stem cells and be able to reprogrammed to copy any cell type.
is led by Juan Carlos Izpisuaa biologist at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, who achieved fame by predicting that life expectancy can rise by 50 years thanks to the combination of human and ape embryos.
Altos Labs also has the services of Steve Horvatha professor at the University of California and developed a “biological clock” that could accurately measure senescence.
Bezos’ other card is Unity Biotechnologywho makes drugs for cool aging cells. This family of “senolytic” drugs removes senescent or “zombie” cells from the bloodstream, contributing to various diseases of aging.
Peter Thiel, the powerful Silicon Valley lobbyist
Billionaire Peter Thiel, one of the most respected in Silicon Valley. Photo by AP
In the race to conquer immortality, the eccentric Peter Thiel, considered one of the twenty most powerful people in Silicon Valley, put most of his wealth in the SENS Research Foundation, which focuses on regenerative medicine. Its purpose is to “completely repair the damage accumulated in injured, dysfunctional or diseased tissues.”
One of his lines of research consists of healthy cell backup to replant them when molecular communication begins to fail. This replacement is similar to installing a new update on an operating system.
SENS longevity expert Michael Rae hopes that the secret of eternal life will be unlocked in 2050. “Reprogramming technology allows us to turn the clock back and rejuvenate our cells, which will help breaking the relationship between age and death.
Calico, the magical company of Google’s founders
The founders of Google are behind the mysterious Calico. Photo EFE
The founders of Google are behind Calico (acronym for California Life Company), a biotech firm that, for ten years, has been operating under a cloak of mystery and whose primary goal is “kill death”.
The vice president is renowned researcher Cynthia Kenyon, whose work is trying to solve the genetic code in which it is written. the aging process.
His hypothesis believes that the body has the key that, by increasing body temperature, it ages faster and by lowering it, cell breakdown is slower.
“Maybe there’s this thermostat, and if we know what it is and how to control it, we can create medicine that allows us to stay younger,” Kenyon said.
Since it was founded, Calico has not published a single related study that offers any clue as to where its compass points are. This silence only heightens the legend hiding behind its front.
Jim Mellon, behind Juvenescense
Jim Mellon behind Juvenescence. Photo by AFP
The British philanthropist is funding Juvenescence, which is behind a wide range of anti-aging therapies. One of these is Insilico Medicine, which aims use artificial intelligence for drug testing.
He also supported AgeX Therapeutics, which strives to create stem cells that can regenerate aging tissue, and LyGenesis, which wants to develop technology that uses lymph nodes as bioreactors to regenerate replacement organs.
“Through biotechnology, we seek to have changes in mitochondria, the powerhouse of cells, as well as cleanse the senescent cells that accumulate as the body ages,” said Greg Bailey, CEO of Juvenescence.
Elon Musk wants to turn people into cyborgs
The richest man in the world, with several projects at the same time. Photo: AFP
Through Neuralink, it aims to expand the capacity of the mind through artificial intelligence. Musk’s intention is to remove the boundary that separates the human from the machine, preventing that distinction by means of an implant that becomes its wearer as a cyborg.
From controlling digital devices with his mind to a new form of communication that does not require words, Musk’s dreams lead to transhumanism: the belief that technologies will lead to a radical change beyond in the human condition.
Mark Zuckerberg: live forever in the metaverse
Virtual presence can also be part of reality. Photo on Facebook
Through donations received by various technology popes, Nectome is a startup made up of MIT -trained researchers, who seek to implement a vitrification system to maintain neural networks and upload them to the cloud. A back up to live forever in the metaverse.
The company suggests connecting patients to the terminal and not being returned to a machine that will inject the chemical mixture through the carotid arteries in the neck while they are alive and under anesthesia.
When he dies, it is possible to rebuild his connectome, the map of connections between brain neurons. Using this information, create a simulation that can be attributed to different avatars living in a virtual world, but can also return to the world of the living.
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Source: Clarin
