Google Bets on Health
The first rejuvenation biotechnology companies developing therapies to target the aging process itself - rather than producing compensatory&#x2F;palliative treatments for specific manifestations of late stage aging - are already past their seed stage. Unity Biotechnology and Oisin Biotechnology are both working on different methods of senescent cell clearance, for example. Removal of senescent cells has been demonstrated to extend life in mice, improve cardiovascular health, etc.<p>It makes sense to back all plausible ventures in this area of development, and since there are at least seven classes of cell and tissue damage that cause aging, there will be a fair number of such ventures in the years ahead. Next up is probably glucosepane cross-link clearance or mitochondrial DNA repair, or perhaps transthyretin amyloid clearance if it ever gets liberated from the disinterested patronage of GSK.<p>Since Google has a clear interest in this area, even if they are going about it by supporting exactly the wrong lines of R&amp;D at the moment, I imagine they will be involved in the growth of these companies and technologies as they continue to prove themselves effective in animal studies.<p>The target market is every human being over the age of 30, with a course of treatment every few years to a decade. The treatment will be some form of mass-produced infusion, such as a gene therapy. Comparable technologies from a production standpoint, such as biologics for autoimmune conditions, run at $1-10K per treatment even in the wildly dysfunction US medical system. You can run the numbers; from an economic perspective longevity assurance treatments that work will make most historical therapies look like small potatoes.