WASHINGTON, U.S.A. - A Silicon Valley entrepreneur
has launched a $1 million prize for the scientists to find the elixir of
life that can extend life beyond age 120 — the theoretical maximum
human lifespan.
As of today, 15 scientific teams are already on the job to find the elusive fountain of youth.
According to hedge fund manager Joon Yun, the chance of dying between ages 25 and 26 is only 0.1 per cent.
He now wants scientists to “hack the code of life” and make that per cent consistent across the ages, the Guardian reported.
To encourage scientists, Yun
has set up the $1 million “Palo Alto Longevity Prize” to anyone who can
extend the life span in mice up to 50 per cent in the first place.
Once the initial goal of 50
per cent increase in life expectancy is achieved, Yun plans to offer
more money for feats above and beyond until longevity is no longer an
“issue.”
For this, Yun has a team of nearly 50 advisers, including scientists from some of America’s top universities, for help.
The quest for an eternal life is not new.
In 2013, Google launched
California Life Company (Calico) whose mission is to reverse engineer
the biology that controls lifespan and “devise interventions that enable
people to lead longer and healthier lives”.
In 2014, US biologist and
technologist Craig Venter and the founder of the X Prize Foundation,
Peter Diamandis, announced a new company called Human Longevity Inc.
It aims to create a database
of 1 million human genome sequences by 2020 that will give key
information for a longer, healthier life.
Source: Agency
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