The biologist Craig Venter announced the opening of Human Longevity, Inc., a company whose purpose is the extension of human life. The means to achieve this result are biotechnology, through developments in the field of genomics and stem cell-based therapies. Venter said he wants to make 100 the new 60.
Craig Venter isn’t a person to be taken lightly when it comes to research in the field of biotechnology. Born on October 14, 1946, he decided to study medicine after having served as a nurse in a military hospital in Vietnam. In addition to being a biologist he’s also an entrepreneur and over the years has achieved extraordinary results that have also made him controversial for his commercial approach to genomica.
In the ’90s, Craig Venter founded Celera Genomics, a company that was able to complete the sequencing of the human DNA at the same time as the Human Genome Project. The company aimed to create a commercial gene bank but due to the lack of revenue Venter was ousted.
Between 2003 and 2004, Craig Venter participated in the Global Ocean Sampling Expedition (GOS), a project exploring genetic ocean to determine the genetic diversity in the marine microbial community. In 2005, he co-founded Venter Synthetic Genomics, a company that aims to create modified microorganisms to produce biofuels and other biochemicals. In 2010, a group of scientists led by Venter announced the creation of synthetic life by introducing the DNA of a bacterium artificially modified into a different cell.
In short, Craig Venter has always done cutting-edge research therefore must be taken seriously in his new research on longevity, also because Human Longevity has other prestigious founders. There’s in fact Robert Hariri, a pioneer in stem cell research. There’s also Peter Diamandis, best known as the founder of the X Prize Foundation, a nonprofit organization that aims to promote technological breakthroughs.
The plan explained by Craig Venter is to carry out a mass sequencing for an unprecedented genetic study. The results are supposed to allow to switch from a type medicine that treats diseases to one that prevents them using biotechnology. From this point of view, the indications are more accurate than those provided by Google’s project Calico, announced last year.
In the end, at least for now, the purpose of Human Longevity is especially to improve the quality of life in the elderly people. In our society, the lengthening of life is creating various problems in the care of people who, when they reach old age, are suffering from various diseases, often severe. Craig Venter wants these people to reach 100 years because they’re in good health and therefore self-sufficient.
