146 replies to this topic

[Elus]

Huge News!!

http://techland.time...oogle-vs-death/

http://business.time...end-human-life/

Aubrey responds! Naturally, he's overjoyed!

http://ideas.time.co...-truly-begun-2/

This is big news, guys!

Edited by Elus, 18 September 2013 - 10:41 PM.

[niner]

Huge News indeed! Thanks Elus, this is amazing! Aubrey's commentary is excellent.

[tintinet]

'bout time!

[Musli]

Sounds great, but I'm curbing my optimism for the time being. It depends on what they want to do and how they want to do it. If it's just using computer power to look for drug candidates or 3D modeling, that would be great. If it's funding SENS-like r&d into heart disease, AD - that would be awesome. Looking forward to more details regarding Calico.

[reason]

It was only a matter of time before more big players started to dip their toes into funding longevity science. The bigger the player, the more important the very existence of their position of support becomes: much of the struggle to raise funding and public support involves generating credibility and legitimacy in the public eye. It's unfair, and completely disconnected from merit and utility, but that's the way things work. Greater support for longevity science from the California venture and technology community has been building for some years: it is no accident that the SENS Research Foundation has its base in the Bay Area, for example. That choice is not just a matter of several of the most noted aging research laboratories being nearby, with another in LA, but also that a strong base of funding and grassroots support exists in that part of the world.
It is pleasing to see that the folk running Google have decided to direct some of their philanthropic muscle towards the problem of aging, not least because they have access to one of the largest soapboxes in this modern world of ours. That Google openly backs longevity science is a tremendous boon to everyone who advocates for greater research funding in this field, and to everyone seeking to raise funding in this field.
Announcement by Larry Page

I'm excited to announce Calico, a new company that will focus on health and well-being, in particular the challenge of aging and associated diseases. Art Levinson, Chairman and former CEO of Genentech and Chairman of Apple, will be Chief Executive Officer. Art and I are excited about tackling aging and illness. These issues affect us all - from the decreased mobility and mental agility that comes with age, to life-threatening diseases that exact a terrible physical and emotional toll on individuals and families. And while this is clearly a longer-term bet, we believe we can make good progress within reasonable timescales with the right goals and the right people.

Google vs. Death

At the moment Google is preparing an especially uncertain and distant shot. It is planning to launch Calico, a new company that will focus on health and aging in particular. The independent firm will be run by Arthur Levinson, former CEO of biotech pioneer Genentech, who will also be an investor. Levinson, who began his career as a scientist and has a Ph.D. in biochemistry, plans to remain in his current roles as the chairman of the board of directors for both Genentech and Apple, a position he took over after its co-founder Steve Jobs died in 2011. In other words, the company behind YouTube and Google+ is gearing up to seriously attempt to extend human lifespan.
Google isn't exactly bursting with credibility in this arena. Its personal-medical-record service, Google Health, failed to catch on. But Calico, the company says, is different. It will be making longer-term bets than most health care companies do. "In some industries," says Page, "it takes 10 or 20 years to go from an idea to something being real. Health care is certainly one of those areas. We should shoot for the things that are really, really important, so 10 or 20 years from now we have those things done."

Aubrey de Grey: Finally, the War on Aging Has Truly Begun

To paraphrase Churchill's words following the Second Battle of El Alamein: Google's announcement about their new venture to extend human life, Calico, is not the end, nor even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.
As little as 20 years ago, when I joined the pitifully small band of academics who call themselves biogerontologists, the prospects for defeating aging were so bleak that it was widely considered unscientific even to discuss it: according to the respectable view, our only option was to continue discovering more about the nature of aging until, by some miracle in the distant future, our body of knowledge took sufficient shape to reveal a route to intervention. A string of advances in the late 1990s, mostly made by researchers not focused on aging per se, changed that: it allowed, for the first time, the formulation of a realistic divide-and-conquer strategy against mankind's most formidable foe. Many components of this strategy were at a dauntingly early stage of development, but all could be described in sufficient detail to offer hope for foreseeable success. As so often in science, many established luminaries voiced skepticism, and some still do; but the plan progressively attracted the support of world-leading experts in all the relevant disciplines, and as it has done so, funding - albeit far too little to maximise the rate of progress - has materialized too.
Now is the right time for a commercial entity to get heavily involved. One of the key activities of SENS Research Foundation, as a non-profit, is proof-of-concept research on key components of the anti-aging arsenal that are still too early-stage to constitute an attractive business proposition for all but the most visionary investors. But we've always made clear that our ultimate goal is to kick-start a real anti-aging industry: not the essentially cosmetic industry that goes by that name today, but a bona fide rejuvenation biotechnology industry, providing people with truly comprehensive restoration and preservation of youthful mental and physical function however long they live. And yes, one side-effect of this advance - a side-effect that we should all celebrate - is that most people will live a great deal longer than today, and will do so in the prime of health.
With Google's decision to direct its astronomical resources to a concerted assault on aging, that battle may have been transcended: once financial limitations are removed, curmudgeons no longer matter. That's why I think it is no exaggeration to state that the end of the beginning may have arrived. I won't go so far as to say that my crusading job is done, but for sure it just got a whole lot easier.

One example of the sort of groundswell of support for longevity science in the California technology culture I'm talking about can be seen in the Hacker News thread on this announcement by Google. Hacker News is a slice of the technology entrepreneur community with an emphasis on the Bay Area startup scene. People commenting there immediately made the connection with the work of the SENS Research Foundation and Aubrey de Grey, despite that not being mentioned anywhere in the press materials. There is a web of connections between entrepreneurs-turned-investor such as Peter Thiel, the SENS Research Foundation, researchers in California laboratories, and a range of people in the technology and venture capital communities, and that network has been growing quietly in the background for years now. Health Extension is one small example of the sort of organized efforts that arise from that community.
Aging is a terrible thing, and parts of the research community have for some years been able to show that there are real prospects for creating rejuvenation therapies. Sooner or later people with a great deal more money than they could ever manage to spend on luxuries are going to wake up and realize that they can buy more years, decades even, of healthy life by funding longevity research. Obviously if you are rich and you can do that, it would be foolish not to. What do you have to lose?
But let us not get too far ahead of ourselves. This effort by Google has just started, and we have no idea how it turn out. Google doesn't have a good track record for going above and beyond the safe, staid norm when it comes to philanthropy. Their initiatives in that respect have generally been very mainstream, very similar to what other factions of Big Philanthropy are up to, and very unlikely to change the world. So it is entirely possible that this could turn out to be another version of the Ellison Medical Foundation, wherein funding follows the National Institute on Aging model, and is thus highly conservative, largely focused on investigation rather than intervention, and very unlikely to produce any meaningful extension of healthy life. That would be a grand waste of an opportunity, but it's a plausible outcome.
Another possibility is that the outcome here will look very much like the Glenn Foundation initiatives that have established laboratories for longevity science around the country. Most of those funds and the resulting work presently goes towards the slow, ineffective path to extending human life: manipulating metabolism, searching for ways to replicate the benefits of calorie restriction, and so forth. Slightly slowing aging isn't rejuvenation, it's arguably harder than creating rejuvenation, and it won't make any great different to the live span of anyone in middle age today. What use are medicines that can slightly slow aging if you are already old when they emerge? This, too, would be a waste of an opportunity, but is a plausible prediction.
On balance, I will be pleasantly surprised if money flows from Google towards SENS research and human rejuvenation any time soon: I don't expect that to happen now. I expect Google to back the mainstream, and the mainstream today is not SENS: it is the slow, painful, expensive attempt to build drugs that slightly slow aging. That said, I will also be surprised if significant money fails to flow from Google to SENS by 2018 or so, as the trajectory for SENS is for it to become a major faction within the aging research community. I expect that trajectory to accelerate as attempts to slow aging via drugs continue to produce poor or no results, and as incremental progress accrues in the foundation technologies needed for rejuvenation: mitochondrial replacement; cleaning up the lysosome; immunotherapies to clear amyloid; and so forth. Sooner or later, people start backing the winning horse, even if it takes them time to recognize that said horse is obviously, self-evidently better than the alternatives.

View the full article at FightAging

[PWAIN]

I read the comments on the other thread about this and I think it is quite possible that this could end up following more conventional approaches and that would be a shame. Hopefully that won't happen and we will start to see some real breakthroughs happening. For now, I think it is wait and see.

[InquilineKea]

YES! I really wonder if this is going to increase funding into the computational/systems biology of aging! And if this is going to make the field of aging much easier for a young person to enter.

I'm going to ask Matt Kaeberlein and others what they think about this too.

Edited by InquilineKea, 19 September 2013 - 02:08 AM.

[ymc]

Don't need to feel excited about this. First, majority of the pet companies/projects Google founded has failed, so the chance of failing for this one is high. Second, no details is released about what they are trying to do. So I don't know what we should be excited about.

23andme can be considered part of their effort to combat ageing. Its current state financial-wise is a failure but it did collect over 50,000 people's SNP data. It didn't generate an impact like facebook because gene association studies take a long time to conduct, so the utility of their gene test is only growing marginally day-by-day.

Pacing in the medical industry is very slow compare to the tech industry. Let's hold our breath and wait for their further announcements.

[Layberinthius]

Don't need to feel excited about this. First, majority of the pet companies/projects Google founded has failed, so the chance of failing for this one is high. Second, no details is released about what they are trying to do. So I don't know what we should be excited about.

IMHO I wouldnt be suprised if all of their pet projects are just ways and methods of marketing and keeping their public image spotless regardless of what bullshit and shill methods they are using in the background.

Google is evil, always has and always will be.

Chrome and Google products in general are like a magnet for people interested in shiney things that make them feel special. Which these days means I will probably end up pissing off the entire population of the Earth by saying that. Chrome and Google products are the perfect "impulse buy" item. ie, a product which someone buys and does apsolutley no research on beforehand but just willingly accepts a companies best judgement and in-built obsoleteness.

http://www.slate.com...cial_media.html

This kind of person.

This project is the same old shit peddled to the same dumbarses who abandoned Mozilla in droves, why the hell would I want to buy a product, even if its just a pill, from the same company which I've seen strip away so many of our rights over the last 10 years?

I wouldnt want to put something that was designed by google into my body, as far as I'm concerned Google can eat shit and die.

Unless they do with a pill patent or research what Benjamin Franklin did to his inventions they can blow me.

Edited by Layberinthius, 19 September 2013 - 08:11 AM.

[InquilineKea]

Don't need to feel excited about this. First, majority of the pet companies/projects Google founded has failed, so the chance of failing for this one is high. Second, no details is released about what they are trying to do. So I don't know what we should be excited about.

23andme can be considered part of their effort to combat ageing. Its current state financial-wise is a failure but it did collect over 50,000 people's SNP data. It didn't generate an impact like facebook because gene association studies take a long time to conduct, so the utility of their gene test is only growing marginally day-by-day.

Pacing in the medical industry is very slow compare to the tech industry. Let's hold our breath and wait for their further announcements.

Here's the thing though: Google now isn't the same as Google of several years ago. Google has recently cracked down on pet projects (after all it shut down Google Reader). This time, Google is actually serious about this.

It could still flop. After all, Google+ is still widely considered to be a flop. Google can't understand "social", after all. But I think this has a serious chance of actually succeeding. It could be a matter of timing though. Google's approach could be perfect for understanding the systems biology of aging. It still could be a few years early though.

[JLL]

Whether it fails or not, it's still good for public perception. Kinda like Apple saying it will defeat death -- millions of hipsters suddenly change their mind about deathism.

[caliban]

Google announces Calico, a new company focused on health and well-being


MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – September 18, 2013 – Google today announced Calico, a new company that will focus on health and well-being, in particular the challenge of aging and associated diseases. Arthur D. Levinson, Chairman and former CEO of Genentech and Chairman of Apple, will be Chief Executive Officer and a founding investor.

Announcing this new investment, Larry Page, Google CEO said: “Illness and aging affect all our families. With some longer term, moonshot thinking around healthcare and biotechnology, I believe we can improve millions of lives. It’s impossible to imagine anyone better than Art—one of the leading scientists, entrepreneurs and CEOs of our generation—to take this new venture forward.” Art said: “I’ve devoted much of my life to science and technology, with the goal of improving human health. Larry’s focus on outsized improvements has inspired me, and I’m tremendously excited about what’s next.”

Art Levinson will remain Chairman of Genentech and a director of Hoffmann-La Roche, as well as Chairman of Apple.

Commenting on Art’s new role, Franz Humer, Chairman of Hoffmann-La Roche, said: “Art’s track record at Genentech has been exemplary, and we see an interesting potential for our companies to work together going forward. We’re delighted he’ll stay on our board.”

Tim Cook, Chief Executive Officer of Apple, said: “For too many of our friends and family, life has been cut short or the quality of their life is too often lacking. Art is one of the crazy ones who thinks it doesn’t have to be this way. There is no one better suited to lead this mission and I am excited to see the results.”


[attachment=11571:360_cover_0930.jpg]

[lunarsolarpower]

I was pretty excited thinking of the potential for this today. So far though it's just one guy with some money, some really high-level connections and a blank slate. I'm curious if anyone here is considering trying to become involved with Calico either as an employee or perhaps seeking research funding through them?

http://bits.blogs.ny...iotech-company/

Tech Titans Form Biotechnology Company
By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER and ANDREW POLLACK
Silicon Valley has an obsession with immortality, and not just as science fiction. Many people here say they believe that the day when technology makes it possible to live forever is just around the corner.

On Wednesday, some of the tech world’s most formidable players announced an effort to get closer to that point, with a new biotechnology company to fight the aging process and the diseases that accompany it.

The company, Calico, was conceived and backed by Google, whose co-founder and chief executive, Larry Page, portrayed it as one of the company’s long-shot projects, like self-driving cars. Arthur D. Levinson, 63, the former chief executive of Genentech and the chairman of Apple, agreed to be the chief executive and is also an investor.

“This was just so out of the box that I instantly got extremely excited about it,” Dr. Levinson said in an interview. He said he had turned down other offers to run companies since stepping down as chief executive of Genentech in 2009, after the company’s acquisition by Roche.

Dr. Levinson said that at first Calico would be “more of an institute certainly than a pharmaceutical company,” focusing on basic research aimed at picking apart the biological mechanisms behind aging.

He said much of that early research might be done by providing money to academic scientists, though Calico might also hire its own researchers. Dr. Levinson, who is Calico’s only employee for now, would not say when, or even if, Calico hoped to develop a drug to fight aging.

An anti-aging drug has been a long-sought goal, both by some consumers and by companies, as well as by various hucksters. Rather than treat each particular disease, retarding aging could potentially prevent or slow the development of numerous diseases.

But companies that have sprung up to try this have tended to suffer from lack of longevity themselves. Elixir Pharmaceuticals, a company started by academic experts, was shut down. Another company, Sirtris Pharmaceuticals, was acquired by GlaxoSmithKline for $720 million in 2008, but has been downsized somewhat.

Dr. Levinson said Calico hoped to surmount those issues by taking a long-term approach to better understanding the mechanisms involved, without the need to turn a quick profit.

“Larry and I share a sense of sadness that so few companies are willing to make extremely long-term bets,” he said.

He declined to say how much money was being invested in Calico, though he hinted it would be in the tens of millions of dollars. He also declined to say whether there were other investors.

Some anti-aging researchers, who have been suffering from tight federal research spending, welcomed Calico’s entrance.

“I think that if Google succeeds, this would be their greatest gift to humanity,” said David Sinclair, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and co-founder of Sirtris. “I’m sure they don’t mean that they will defeat death, but if they were to give people five or 10 years of healthy life, that would change the world.”

Under Dr. Levinson, Genentech developed blockbuster cancer drugs and a reputation for allowing scientists to pursue their interests, something he said he hoped to replicate at Calico.

One issue Calico could confront is that the Food and Drug Administration does not recognize aging as a disease, so drugs would have to be approved for a specific disease. But Dr. Levinson said that if an anti-aging drug were proven to work, the agency would most likely change its mind.

He said Calico was exploring a partnership with Roche, whose board he sits on. He also said that Calico would consider using Google’s computing power.

Calico stands for California Life Company. “But if you’re thinking about cats, we like the old saying that they have nine lives,” Dr. Levinson wrote in a post on the social network Google Plus.

Though Google assures wary shareholders that these projects are small compared with the core business, the company is working to create an image of itself as the leader of innovation and long-term thinking in the industry.

Mr. Page wrote in his own Google Plus post, “Don’t be surprised if we invest in projects that seem strange or speculative compared with our existing Internet businesses.”

Google’s founders are involved in Singularity University, part of the belief system that humans and machines will at some point merge, making old age and death meaningless. Google has ventured into health before, including with company investments and personal ones related to the founders’ health issues and a failed effort at online medical records.

Dr. Levinson said that Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, was the first outsider he told about his participation in Calico. Mr. Cook, he said, listened quietly for a few minutes and then said, “It’s not very many people who have the opportunity to reverse time.”

Claire Cain Miller reported from San Francisco, and Andrew Pollack from Los Angeles.

[reason]

TechCrunch occasionally has its uses:

The sad truth is that, if everyone on the Forbes 400 list simultaneously (and tragically) got cancer, or Parkinson's (or any given disease for that matter), the world would probably be well on its way to finding a cure for these illnesses, thanks to the enormous wealth that would be incentivized to back those efforts. Finding a cure for an intractable disease requires time, enormous amounts of human and financial capital, cooperation and research - and at least a few public-private partnerships. It's costly, and it's messy. This is why Calico, Google's newest mad science project, is potentially so exciting.
Google CEO Larry Page implied that dramatically extending human life is one of Calico's main goals; not making people immortal per se, but, according to a source familiar with the project, increasing the lifespan of people born 20 years ago by as much as 100 years. Interestingly, Calico doesn't seem to be a Google company per se, more of an investment in a new company that will be affiliated with Google and become an extension of the company's mad science lab, Google X.
Sources tell us that us that Calico is still very much in the exploratory phases and is seeking neither near term profits nor have much of any idea about how to actually increase lifespans. So, there's that. It's one thing to say "we're going to increase the human lifespan by 20 years!" and another entirely to actually do that. For now, sources tell us that Calico will primarily function as an R&D group, exploring the latest in longevity science. However, it won't rule out the possibility of manufacturing their own products down the line. At some level, Larry Page, the company - someone in Mountain View - has become convinced that Google needs to help figure out the aging problem. As Bette Davis and most 90-year-olds will tell you, "old age is no place for sissies." It's tough. After all, longevity isn't any fun if one spends the last decade of life wheezing in a hospital bed.

I don't see how anyone familiar with the science can reasonably expect to manage radical life extension to the tune of doubling human life expectancy without backing SENS or SENS-like development programs that focus on periodic repair of cellular damage. But I have no insight into the thinking here, and TechCrunch is in a similar position, sources or no.
Link: http://techcrunch.co...can-defy-aging/

View the full article at FightAging

[APBT]

http://www.sfgate.co...seases-4826532.php


Google is searching for longer life, announcing on Wednesday the formation of a health company focused on aging and associated diseases.

Arthur Levinson, the former chief executive officer and current chairman of biotechnology giant Genentech, will lead the new venture, known as Calico.

The launch of an independent company represents an unusual tack for Google, which typically fosters out-there ideas through its secretive Google X division or invests in promising startups through Google Ventures. But the ambitiousness of the project is in line with the thinking of co-founder and CEO Larry Page, who has taken a series of bold steps since returning to the helm in the spring of 2011.

Google earns most of its money from the ads that pop up alongside search results, but it's working on driverless cars, Internet-connected glasses, and stratospheric balloons that could help get more of the developing world online.

"Illness and aging affect all our families," Page said in a statement. "With some longer-term, moon-shot thinking around health care and biotechnology, I believe we can improve millions of lives."


Effect, not cause

Slowing the aging process promises considerable bang for the buck, because many illnesses appear to be the effect, not cause, of getting older, including cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer's and various forms of cancer.

"By the time you get really sick, it's hard to put you back together again," said Brian Kennedy, chief executive officer of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in Novato. "But slowing aging delays the onset of all these diseases."

Time magazine published a cover story on the new venture Wednesday, featuring a wide-ranging interview with Page. But ultimately neither he nor Google revealed detailed plans, such as the intended avenues of research or where the company would be located. Google didn't respond to an inquiry from The Chronicle.


Personal motivation?

There may be some personal motivation at play in these efforts. All of us age, of course, but Google co-founders Page and Sergey Brin both face specific health issues. Page suffers from vocal cord nerve damage that has left him speaking faintly. And Brin has a genetic mutation that may leave him more susceptible to developing Parkinson's disease.

Google has dipped a toe into the health field before, bringing data to bear on various problems through initiatives like Google Flu Trends and investments in companies like 23andMe (co-founded by Brin's wife, Anne Wojcicki, from whom he is separated), which does genetic testing.

Indeed, much of medical research today relies on advances in information technology that allow scientists to derive insights from vast sets of data - and it's a good guess that Calico will embrace such tools as well.


Data sets

As Time reported: "Google is very, very good with large data sets. While the company is holding its cards about Calico close to the vest, expect it to use its core data-handling skills to shed new light on familiar age-related maladies. Sources close to the project suggest it will start small and focus entirely on researching new technologies."

The mere fact that Google is stepping into this space doesn't mean it will achieve any breakthroughs. As with most medical research, advances will require considerable time and money, if they come at all. It's notable that there haven't been any runaway successes in efforts to reverse the aging process.

But there has certainly been progress, Kennedy said. Drugs have been shown to slow the aging process in mice, including rapamycin, which is already approved for other uses in humans.

The Bay Area is a rich vein for academic and nonprofit research in the field. Advanced work is under way at Stanford University's Center on Longevity and UC Berkeley's Center for Research & Education on Aging, as well as at the Buck Institute.


Telomeres research

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Blackburn of UCSF shared the Nobel Prize in medicine in 2009 for work on telomeres, a kind of protective cap on the end of chromosomes that shrink as people age, and the enzyme known as telomerase that replenishes their length. She and other researchers formed Telome Health of Menlo Park in 2010 to develop and sell telomere testing products.

Other scientists have focused on the role of protein misfolding and DNA mutations in aging, but increasingly it appears that the process is a complicated one involving all of these factors and more.


New resources

The key thing holding up additional advances is a lack of resources, so Kennedy said he welcomes the entrance of Google and its immensely deep pockets. "We're all speculating as to what they're going to do, but it's very exciting for the field," he said.

Levinson, who will also keep his position as chairman of Apple, shared more about how the venture came about in a public Google+ post.

"We agreed that with great people, a strong culture and vision and a healthy disregard for the impossible, we could make progress tackling these questions and improving people's lives," he said.

Levinson added that Calico is officially an abbreviation for the "California Life Co."

"But if you're thinking about cats, we like the old saying that they have nine lives," he said.

[Fred_CALICO]

Good

[Fred_CALICO]

Remember, we are all doomed to die ... even Larry Page and Arthur Levinson ... it is a motivation.

[Elus]

Curing aging is a daunting goal because of how complex the phenomenon is. However, Google is also perfectly suited to attacking this problem for precisely that reason - there is so much data. We know that Google is an expert at information systems, and their ability to gather and make sense of big data is unparalleled.

I think Calico will gather as much data as they can about age-related diseases and the ways we currently treat them. This will lead to identification of key areas where a radically different approach can be taken in order to improve clinical outcomes, or ways in which we can radically accelerate our progress against disease.

Some examples of this might include:

• Developing a virtual model of a cell for drug testing
• Developing organ-on-a-chip technologies in order to radically improve the accuracy and rate at which we can test drugs. Mice aren't cutting it, and drugs which succeed in mice often fail in humans. Something like organ-on-a-chip tech could improve the chance of positive outcomes when the drug finally goes from lab into clinical trials.
• Finding ways we can use information technology to catch diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's in their early stages. Perhaps sensors embedded in the bloodstream, combined with Moore's law miniaturization, will allow us to take personalized medicine to a whole new level. Google would be well suited for such an undertaking.

Calico is evidently a company with a long-term vision. What does this mean? It means that they will be projecting the technologies of today out to 20 years from now and thinking about the capabilities of that future period.

Luckily, Kurzweil is there and he's very good at this sort of thing. We can see exponential decline in cost of DNA sequencing, as well as exponential miniaturization of sensors and computers. Calico should utilize these projections and invent solutions that they might not be able to build now, but will be able to build soon.

I think that if Google combines their computer/information expertise to understanding aging and catching diseases early, combined with a funding program for SENS, we'll see an explosion of improvement in these areas.

Edited by Elus, 23 September 2013 - 09:42 PM.

[niner]

I mostly don't look at curing aging as a big data problem. Obviously conventional bioinformatics, cheminformatics, and computational chemistry will have a role, but they aren't *big* data problems by today's (NSA...) standards. There is one thing, however, that might fit: It's become impossible to stay on top of the world's output of science. We need an AI system that can read and understand the literature, and find connections that humans might miss. If it were good enough, it could even be tasked with prioritizing experiments, so that instead of everyone doing the same conservative research that's more likely to "work", thus more likely to get funded, we instead fund the work that *needs* to get done. If Google can just pull off the trick of directing money to the right problems, that alone will be worth all their billions of dollars.

Edited by niner, 23 September 2013 - 09:55 PM.

[Elus]

I mostly don't look at curing aging as a big data problem. Obviously conventional bioinformatics, cheminformatics, and computational chemistry will have a role, but they aren't *big* data problems by today's (NSA...) standards. There is one thing, however, that might fit: It's become impossible to stay on top of the world's output of science. We need an AI system that can read and understand the literature, and find connections that humans might miss. If it were good enough, it could even be tasked with prioritizing experiments, so that instead of everyone doing the same conservative research that's more likely to "work", thus more likely to get funded, we instead fund the work that *needs* to get done. If Google can just pull off the trick of directing money to the right problems, that alone will be worth all their billions of dollars.

My point wasn't so much that Google will cure aging directly, but rather that it could indirectly give aging research a big boost, or even allow people to live longer in order to reach Longevity Escape Velocity by giving them the power to stay on top of their health until radically improved anti-aging therapies become a reality.

It might be able to speed up the rate of scientific discovery with advanced drug testing paradigms and computational models, and yes, perhaps even AI. (By the way, they are experts in machine learning, so AI might be a great route. They are preparing to build a trillion node neural network for machine learning purposes, and I am curious to see what kind of potential that will bring to the table).

However, I agree with you that Google could also take on a direct role in tackling aging by funneling the money where it's needed. I am not sure if this is their intention - we'll have to wait and see.

Edited by Elus, 23 September 2013 - 10:21 PM.

[Bluedot]

I think this is great news! I just hope and I guess in the near future more heavy hitters will join the party. IBM is one I am following.

Also, this just reminded me of what Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle (another tech giant also in Silicon Valley), did about a decade ago with the Ellison Medical Foundation. In 2011 they still awarded $44 m worth of grants for research that 'supports basic biomedical research on aging relevant to understanding lifespan development processes and age-related diseases and disabilities.'

[mikeinnaples]

It brings legitimacy. It bring awareness. It just might change or begin to change the common perception that death is inevitable. Whether or not this particular venture fails or succeeds, it is a huge step forward.

I mostly don't look at curing aging as a big data problem. Obviously conventional bioinformatics, cheminformatics, and computational chemistry will have a role, but they aren't *big* data problems by today's (NSA...) standards. There is one thing, however, that might fit: It's become impossible to stay on top of the world's output of science. We need an AI system that can read and understand the literature, and find connections that humans might miss. If it were good enough, it could even be tasked with prioritizing experiments, so that instead of everyone doing the same conservative research that's more likely to "work", thus more likely to get funded, we instead fund the work that *needs* to get done. If Google can just pull off the trick of directing money to the right problems, that alone will be worth all their billions of dollars.

Google's involvement at the Quantum Artificial Intelligence lab at NASA's Ames Research Center seems to support you

[niner]

It brings legitimacy. It bring awareness. It just might change or begin to change the common perception that death is inevitable. Whether or not this particular venture fails or succeeds, it is a huge step forward.

Yes, I think this is an important aspect of the announcement. When Google speaks, people listen. They are smart, have a great track record, and they have the financial muscle to do big things. Public perception is a huge part of the problem- When people realize that the cure of aging is possible, then a lot of people are going to start agitating for progress.

I mostly don't look at curing aging as a big data problem. Obviously conventional bioinformatics, cheminformatics, and computational chemistry will have a role, but they aren't *big* data problems by today's (NSA...) standards. There is one thing, however, that might fit: It's become impossible to stay on top of the world's output of science. We need an AI system that can read and understand the literature, and find connections that humans might miss. If it were good enough, it could even be tasked with prioritizing experiments, so that instead of everyone doing the same conservative research that's more likely to "work", thus more likely to get funded, we instead fund the work that *needs* to get done. If Google can just pull off the trick of directing money to the right problems, that alone will be worth all their billions of dollars.

Google's involvement at the Quantum Artificial Intelligence lab at NASA's Ames Research Center seems to support you

I don't think that I'm communicating very well here. Bioinformatics, Cheminformatics, and Comp Chem are not particularly suffering from a lack of compute power, nor do I expect extraordinary breakthroughs from the application of advanced algorithmics. The sticking points tend to be in the chemical theory, in the way that we use math to describe atoms and molecules. I don't think that is particularly Google's specialty, although they certainly have some smart people. It's cool that Google is involved with quantum computing. It will undoubtedly speed up certain types of problems. The machine at NASA Ames will also be shared with academic researchers. I think the connection between quantum computing and curing aging is kind of tenuous, however.

To be honest, what I hope to see is something like SENS with two or three orders of magnitude more money behind it. We need a whole bunch of brilliant biochemists turned loose in very well-equipped labs, working on rejuvenation problems.

[mikeinnaples]

Maybe it is me Niner...

I think the AI lab at Ames is a beginning... not an ends to a means. The research being done there and elsewhere is a necessary step for progress. It are these first steps and collaborations that are eventually going to lead to AI/AI-like systems that are able to do what you mentioned. Advanced modeling, problem solving, etc. all has to begin somewhere and those are the tools that will eventually assist us in solving aging, even if indirectly.

Here is our public statement on the lab:

"NASA researchers will use this system to investigate areas where quantum algorithms might someday dramatically improve the agency's ability to solve difficult optimization problems in aeronautics, Earth and space sciences, and space exploration. Applications relevant to NASA include machine learning, pattern recognition, mission planning and scheduling, distributed navigation and coordination, and system diagnostics and anomaly detection."

Maybe as a software engineer, I look at things differently... but I see some very obvious ways to apply that to other areas.

[forever freedom]

Great news. I bet that Kurzweil had a big hand in the creation of the company. Kurzweil seems to be a big influence on Larry Page and this is awesome. It comforts me to realize that Calico will continue on getting big efforts from Google as long as Kurzweil is around.

Edited by forever freedom, 26 September 2013 - 12:54 PM.

[YOLF]

Awesome!

[A941]

Google has started Calico, and as i have read on different wep pges people fear that it will fail very soon, or be abandoned by google if it doesnt generate money or data.
What do you think?

What could be done to prevent this?
Google just started to show interest in this field of research and because of its immense size and power has allready become an important force, but will it stay that way?

[albedo]

I did not read a lot about Calico and wonder if someone out there knows a bit more about their roadmap.

Yes, it looks like a great news and I am happy this can be the "end of the beginning" as Aubrey put it in the link in Elus's post. But will Google have a comprehensive approach a-la-SENS? Why not largely divert funds to SENS? Why not partnering with SENS? Also, recent projects such as HBP (Human Brain Project) or BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) will hopefully and maybe likely succeed because of their intrinsic comprehensive and federation character, including public, private, academia, industry with of course major funding (HBP targets ~1b$ and BRAIN ~3b$) inspired by the HGP (Human Genome Project). Will Calico be comprehensive enough? Maybe Calico will not win aging but will surely help. Maybe IBM Watson (what Niner is looking for in his post in this thread) will not win cancer but will surely help. If I had to bet I would rather do on Watson against cancer than Google against aging at the stage of information I have on Calico (again very little). Look at the solid, partnership after partnership (MSKCC, NYGC, MD-Anderson, ...) transparent and declarative IBM progress with their AI technology. But again do not misunderstand me: Calico looks great news!

Edited by albedo, 20 March 2014 - 10:03 PM.

[YOLF]

Calico is funded by google and I think lack of information is not proof of the absence of information Google probably has more resources than IBM and may be keeping their information secret, especially if they want to patent it in the years to come. They may find a trade secret next month that will be of great benefit but not patent it for 30 years because they won't be using it for as long and wouldn't want it to expire. The caliber of the people involved is all I need for convincing.

[albedo]

Agree and the people aligned look top level. Let's follow this closely, it is so exciting and if Aubrey is supportive I am happy :-)