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What makes Altos Labs unique to humanity
The owner of the Internet giant Amazon, Jeff Bezos, has invested in the startup Altos Labs. The latter is engaged in the search for methods to prolong human life. For the businessman, this is not the first investment in the sphere of longevity and health; previously, he invested in the Unity Biotechnology project, which studies the issues of aging.
Altos is a young startup created in the spring of 2021, but it is actively developing, attracting investments from serious companies and individuals. Thanks to financial support, the project has been able to gather a large number of outstanding scientists. Among them is Nobel Prize winner Shinya Yamanaka, who discovered the process of cell reprogramming. Biologist Steve Horvath, who created a device that analyzes changes in the structure of DNA and uses them to predict human lifespan, also participates in the startup’s developments. Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, who took part in the creation of embryos from monkeys and humans, helps these scientists.
Altos is concerned with the aging of the body and the possibility of prolonging life. The main goal of the company’s team is to find mechanisms and technologies that will slow down the processes of aging and help cells to rejuvenate. For now, scientists are working on the development of several mechanisms that can reprogram cells so that they age more slowly.
All the research is conducted thanks to investments and funding from wealthy people who are interested in longevity issues, and Bezos is one of them. All in all, the startup managed to get more than $270 million; Yuri Milner is considered to be the main sponsor of the project. This native of Russia is engaged in investment, on shares of Facebook and Mail.ru he managed to earn a capital of 4.8 billion dollars. In addition, the businessman is actively investing in various scientific research, together with Sergei Brin and Mark Zuckerberg, he created a special prize for talented physicists, mathematicians and biologists.
Altos laboratories are located in the U.S. and Great Britain, and institutes will soon be established in Tokyo and a number of American cities. These institutions are actively recruiting scientists who are ready to study the aging process and look for ways to prevent it. And all conditions will be created for the specialists, and an excellent scientific base will be presented – finances for research are practically unlimited.
For now, the Yamanaka method, according to which it is possible to “rewire” cells so that they return to the state of stem cells from which they later develop, remains the main subject of research. So far, scientists are working on developing the technology for skin cells. For now, however, the prospect of living forever is still rather vague, and remains only a theory.