Thinking about living forever? New biotech companies seek to halt or even reverse aging

These modern research centers do frontier research in medicine tackling age-related diseases, thus being useful for mankind beyond the creepy live-forever thing.

I recently learned about Altos Labs, a biotechnology research company with the goal to develop therapies that can extend human lifespan through cellular rejuvenation programming. The company was founded in 2022 by cell biologist Richard D. Klausner and Hans Bishop; it has recruited prominent scientists including various Nobel prize winners, and has raised $3 billion in funding from investors including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Notably, other billionaires such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Meta/Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg, and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey are starting or supporting similar enterprises. Perhaps they are planning to live forever?

Introduction to “living forever”

Thinking of Cocoon or Benjamin Button, anybody?

In recent years, aging has become an increasingly pressing matter, not just for individuals but for society as a whole. As the population ages, the burden on healthcare systems, the economy, and ecology, is set to increase dramatically. The increase in population and the decrease in the fraction of people apt for work sets tons of problems related to ecology and demographics. Very interesting, certainly, and that many researchers, institutions and countries are studying very seriously.

But I’m not touching on this here. Here I’m focusing on the question that these modern companies have posed: What if we could halt or even reverse aging altogether? That’s the ambitious goal of these biotech companies, which are working along various fronts toward the aim of extending human lifespan.

These modern companies, Altos Labs being just one example of them, are focused on a cutting-edge field of biotechnology called “senolytics”, where the “seno” prefix, which relates to “senior”, relates to senescent cells, which are cells that have stopped dividing and are no longer functioning as they should. As we humans age, senescent cells accumulate in our bodies contributing to many of the diseases and conditions associated with aging.

The idea behind senolytics is to remove these senescent cells from the body, allowing the body to regenerate healthier, younger-like cells. While this concept has been explored in various forms for decades, recent advances in biotechnology have made it possible to target senescent cells more specifically, without damaging healthy cells.

The companies in question are all in very early stages, and it will likely take years before we see any real-world applications of this technology. Note that although this is all marketed as “longer lifespans” (and perhaps “living forever”), the fact that such research is taking place at all is exciting per se because it will bring lots of intermediate developments and breakthroughs related to the various diseases and medical problems that afflict adults and the elderly. Thus, even if no actual extension of lifespan is achieved, medicine will benefit tremendously from the research carried out by these new companies, improving the quality of our lives. Indeed, although the overall focus of these companies is on cellular rejuvenation programming, they expect to make along the way significant advances on various relevant diseases, and to translate their discoveries into new treatments and cures.

The idea sounds creepy, but has potential far beyond “immortality”

Of course, the concept of extending human lifespan raises many ethical and practical questions. For example, how would such technology be distributed, and who would have access to it? Would it exacerbate existing inequalities and create a new class of “superhumans”? And what would the social and economic implications be of a rapidly aging population that lives longer and longer? Even… do you *really* want to live for ever?

Despite these concerns, it’s clear that the potential benefits of this technology are enormous, even if no actual extension of lifespan is achieved, as discussed above. Thus, all the intermediate research could not only reduce the burden on healthcare systems and the economy, but it could also allow individuals to lead longer, healthier lives, with all the benefits that come with that.

In the end, the question of whether we should seek to halt or even reverse aging is a deeply personal and philosophical one. But regardless of our individual beliefs on the matter, it’s clear that this is an area of research that is worth paying attention to. Who knows what the future holds? Perhaps the dream of extended human lifespan will one day become a reality.

More about Altos Labs

Of the bunch of companies apparently pursuing to halt or even reverse aging, Altos Labs seems to have the highest profile, given the huge investments it received and the profile of the people conforming its board.

The company launched in 2022 as a biotechnology company dedicated to unraveling the deep biology of cellular rejuvenation programming, with a goal to restore cell health and resilience to reverse disease, injury, and the disabilities that can occur throughout life. Altos initially had bases in the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, and Cambridge, UK, with significant collaborations in Japan. The board of directors and advisors included Nobel Laureates and scientific leaders. Altos launched with $3B fully committed from renowned company builders and investors.

The Altos Board of Directors and advisors included Nobel Laureates and scientific leaders, and the company claims to work as a community of leading scientists, clinicians and leaders from both academia and industry. It seems true, from the names listed in its webpage, that it integrates the best features of academia and industry: from academia the freedom to pursue the most challenging problems in biology, and from industry the focus on a shared mission, ability to foster deep collaborations, and the passion and commitment to transform science into medicines. Altos’ webpage also claims that they seek to decipher the pathways of cellular rejuvenation programming to create a completely new approach to medicine, based on the emerging concepts of cellular health… which yes, maybe in a very long term can have an actual impact on lifespan.

Several scientists have praised the launch of Altos Labs and its ambitious goal of exploring the deep biology of cellular rejuvenation programming. Nobel laureate Shinya Yamanaka, who serves as senior scientific advisor to Altos, expressed excitement about the company’s mission. Another Nobel laureate, Jennifer Doudna, who sits on the Altos board of directors, also commented on the company’s vision, showing excitement and support to the company in its mission to explore new frontiers in regenerative medicine, which holds great promise for patients suffering from a variety of diseases.

Altos Labs has attracted some of the leading scientists in their fields; inspecting names you see from cellular biologists to hardcore structural biologists. Altos Labs praises itself from making transformative advances in this field by bringing together leading scientists from academia and industry.

The company’s CEO, Hal Barron, has also emphasized the transformative potential of Altos Labs. He claims to truly believe that Altos will succeed in its goal of reversing aging and disease…

Sounds like hardcore fictional biology… let’s see what happens.

Further reads

A peer-reviewed review article on Senolytics:

Press announcement of Altos Labs opening:

How other rich people are investing in biotech research to reverse aging:

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