A few months ago, Google announced that it would be tackling the challenge of aging.
Though their announcement was very vague, it was assumed that their new company, Calico, would utilize Big Data to treat chronic diseases that affect the elderly, such as cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s. But many thought that the company would do more than just try to treat the aging process, but rather attempt to slow the process altogether.
“For some scientists, recent anti-aging research — on gene therapy, body-part replacement by regeneration and nanotechnology for repairing aging cells — has breathed new life into this dream,” writes The New York Times‘ Daniel Callahan. “They also point to the many life-extending medical advances of the past century as precedents, with no end in sight, and note that average life expectancy in the United States has long been rising, from 47.3 in 1900 to 78.7 in 2010.”
Read the full, original story here: On Dying After Your Time
Additional Resources:
- “Old age is programmed in human embryos,” New York Times
- “Genetic clues in mammals could unlock secret to anti-aging,” Boston Globe
- “Genes shared by relatives influence brain aging,” Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News