I was reading about Bryan Johnson, founder of Project Blueprint, which is working to reverse aging. He funds medical, nutritional, and supplement interventions to optimize organ function and reverse the aging process.
He isn’t alone, several other well-funded ventures are pursuing the same goal:
- Altos Labs - backed by investors including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, its research centres on biological reprogramming. A study led by Spanish biochemist Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte found that the technique reduced cellular and physiological signs of ageing in living mice and extended their lifespan by an average of six weeks.
- Calico Labs - a Google-backed company that aims to uncover the biological processes behind ageing and tackle age-related diseases.
- Unity Biotechnology - a startup pursuing therapies to slow or reverse the effects of ageing. Since its founding in 2009, it has attracted investors including Jeff Bezos, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, and venture capitalist Robert Nelsen
None of them had seen a reprogramming-based therapy reach human clinical trials until early 2026. In January, the FDA cleared Life Biosciences - a company founded on Harvard geneticist David Sinclair’s research, to begin the first-ever human trial of a partial epigenetic reprogramming therapy, aimed at treating optic neuropathies. It’s a small, early-stage trial, still far from proof that ageing itself can be reversed.
So, is immortality an achievable reality, or just a dream billionaires can’t conquer?
Honestly, it seems like a far-fetched dream right now but flying must have felt just as far-fetched to people before the discovery of the airplane. What are your opinions?
MBH/PS