Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Jeff Bezos: Amazon founder 'funds' new age-reversal company opening in UK

Jeff Bezos: Amazon founder 'funds' new age-reversal company opening in UK

Altos Labs has raised at least $270m (£231m) to look into whether biological reprogramming technology could revitalise animal bodies, ultimately prolonging human life.
A new start-up that aims to reverse aging is planning to open a lab in the UK, reportedly with funding from Jeff Bezos.

Altos Labs has raised at least $270m (£231m) to develop biological reprogramming technology, a way to rejuvenate cells that some scientists think could be extended to revitalise entire animal bodies, ultimately prolonging human life.

The company, which was incorporated in the US and in the UK earlier this year, is reported to have billionaires Jeff Bezos and Yuri Milner among its investors, according to MIT Technology Review.

Shinya Yamanaka, who shared a 2012 Nobel Prize for the discovery of reprogramming, will act as an unpaid senior scientist and will chair the company's scientific advisory board.

He found that with the addition of just four proteins, cells can be instructed to revert to a primitive state with the properties of embryonic stem cells.

Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a Spanish scientist also reportedly joining Altos, applied these principles to entire living mice, achieving signs of age reversal and leading him to term reprogramming a potential "elixir of life".

He has predicted that human lifespans could be increased by 50 years.

Although some of the mice in his experiments showed signs their tissues had become younger, others developed ugly embryonic tumours called teratomas, which can be cancerous.

"Although there are many hurdles to overcome, there is huge potential," Mr Yamanaka said.

Another expert joining the firm is Steve Horvath, a UCLA professor and developer of a "biological clock" that can accurately measure human aging and the effectiveness of any age-reversal drug developed.

At least initially, Altos will be paying researchers million-dollar salaries with no immediate expectation for products or revenues.

Other startups have been looking at reprogramming technology, including UK-based Shift Bioscience, but their efforts have not yet led to any treatments tested on people in clinical trials.

Calico Labs, a longevity company announced in 2013 by Google co-founder Larry Page, also runs a lab focused on reprogramming.

David Sinclair, a researcher at Harvard University who last year reported restoring sight to mice using the technology, said the field is uniquely promising.

"What else can you do that can reverse the age of the body?" he said. "In my lab we are ticking off the major organs and tissues, for instance skin, muscle and brain - to see which we can rejuvenate."

Alejandro Ocampo, who used to work in Mr Izpisua Belmonte's lab, said the technology can be used to "take a cell from an 80-year old and, in vitro, reverse the age by 40 years", but cautioned that it is "risky" and "a long way from human therapy".

The major question now is how to tailor reprogramming to see if it can safely rejuvenate animals without killing them, and whether the process can be carried out with ordinary drugs, rather than through the use of genetic engineering.

Reprogramming is still too dangerous to try on humans because in addition to making cells act younger, it changes their identity - for example, turning a skin cell into a stem cell.

Bezos reflected on aging in his final letter to Amazon shareholders before stepping down as CEO, saying: "Staving off death is a thing that you have to work at…If living things don't actively work to prevent it, they would eventually merge with their surroundings and cease to exist as autonomous beings.

"That is what happens when they die."
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
×