First space, now immortality: Jeff Bezos is said to be investing in the eternal life startup Altos Labs

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos takes on the Grim Reaper after reportedly investing in a startup trying to figure out how to reverse the aging process, according to a report in MIT Tech Review**.**

Founded earlier this year, Altos Labs attracts university scientists with hefty salaries of $1 million a year or more, giving them free rein to study how cells age and how to reverse the process. the report he said.

Bezos, 57, resigned as Amazon’s CEO in July and said this year he will devote more time to philanthropy and passion projects like his space company Blue Origin. In July, he made a short trip into space on the company’s New Shepard rocket.

But Bezos isn’t the only plutocrat reportedly investing in the company; Russian-Israeli billionaire Yuri Milner has also reportedly invested.

Milner, 59, made his fortune after investing in Facebook, among other things.

What is Altos Labs?

The company’s goal is to develop a technology that can biologically reprogram cells to become rejuvenated in order to extend human life.

Little is known about the company.

According to the report, the start-up was founded this year after a biotechnology-focused conference in the Los Altos Hills in the US and UK.

According to MIT Tech Review, a securities disclosure filed in California in June indicates the company has raised at least $270 million.

The company also reportedly plans to set up offices in multiple locations, including San Diego, Japan, and Cambridge, UK.

Who is working on the project?

Spanish biologist Juan Carlos Izpisúa Belmonte is set to join the company, the MIT report said. He is known for his research on the mixing of human and monkey embryos.

Professor Steve Horvath is also set to join the team. He is the developer of a so-called “biological clock” that can measure human aging.

Shinya Yamanaka, who received the 2012 Nobel Prize for discovering reprogramming, will be an unpaid senior scientist and lead the company’s Scientific Advisory Board.

“Although there are many hurdles to overcome, there is huge potential,” Yamanaka told MIT Technology Review.

Manuel Serrano, of the Institute for Research in Biomedicine in Barcelona, ​​​​​​Spain, said the company would pay him five to 10 times what he earns now. He confirmed to MIT Technology Review that he plans to join the Altos facility in Cambridge.

“The Altos Labs philosophy is to conduct curiosity-driven research. It’s what I can do and what I like to do,” Serrano said.

“In this case, being a private company gives us the freedom to be bold and explore. In this way it will rejuvenate me.”

Will we ever find the elixir of life?

According to Serrano, Altos’ first goal at first isn’t to make money. “The goal is to understand taper,” he told MIT.

“I would say the idea of ​​having revenue in the future is there, but it’s not the immediate goal.”

Altos isn’t the only mysterious company exploring ways to extend life.

Calico Labs, a longevity company announced by Google co-founder Larry Page in 2013, is also on the same path.

She, too, hired elite scientists with generous paychecks. But it’s not clear how much progress the company has made to date.