Silicon Valley wants to “cure” old age. A growing number of tech billionaires, including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Alphabet’s Larry Page, are pouring millions into life-extending research. The goal is to slow or reverse the aging process and maybe even make death optional.
Sergey Young hopes to live to the ripe old age of 200, still in good health. “The longevity technology that will help us live up to 150 will be commercially available in five to ten years,” said the founder of Longevity Vision Fund, a venture capital (VC) firm that invests in life extension technologies.
After witnessing new scientific discoveries and technological breakthroughs in the field of reverse aging, he founded the $100 million Longevity Vision Fund in 2019. The fund has since invested in more than a dozen life-science businesses, including biopharmaceutical company Sigilon Therapeutics, which was acquired by US drugmaker Eli Lilly in June.
“Longevity research is about delaying old age as much as possible, not extending it indefinitely,” he said in an interview with Economy Chosun. “Our mission is to make longevity more affordable and accessible.”
In his 2021 book “The Science and Technology of Growing Young” he claims that humanity is “on the brink of a Longevity Revolution.” The book has been translated from English to Korean and was published in Korea in August this year.
―Tell us about the Longevity Vision Fund.
“I founded the Longevity Vision Fund to support life extension breakthroughs. We invest in leading biotech companies targeting the underlying causes of aging, as well as technologies that have the potential to reshape medical practice by increasing clinical efficiency and safety by a magnitude of 5 to 10 times. It is one of the few longevity-focused funds in the world.”
―How have the investments performed so far?
“Since our launch in 2019, we have invested in 18 companies, including gene therapies and editing, cell therapies and organ regeneration, AI-enabled drug discovery, and early-stage diagnostics. Four of these companies have successfully gone public and exited, four have grown into unicorns with a valuation of $ 1 billion or more, and seven have progressed to pre-IPO stage companies.”
―Which technology or company in your current investment portfolio are you most excited about?
“I am personally excited about three technologies, which are part of the investment portfolio of Longevity Vision Fund. Novel gene editing tools are one of them. Genome sequencing was once impossibly expensive to complete. For example, the Human Genome Project took 13 years and an estimated $2.7 billion to complete. In recent years, the cost of sequencing has improved along with our ability to develop gene editing technologies.
Longevity Vision Fund invests in companies like Tessera Therapeutics, which can potentially make every type of modification to human DNA, theoretically enabling cures for nearly every genetic mutation. The company’s gene editing efficiency is ten times better than the current industry standard CRISPR.
―Tell us about the other two.
“Another area that I’m looking forward to is organ regeneration. Companies such as LyGenesis are enabling patients’ lymph nodes to be used as bioreactors to regrow functioning organs within the body, which support or replace the diseased originals. This can transform the high-risk liver transplantation process into a much simpler outpatient procedure.
There’s also epigenetic reprogramming. Harvard Medical School professor of genetics Dr. David Sinclair demonstrated with his team that it is possible to safely reset the cells’ aging clock by reprogramming complex tissues. Life Biosciences, co-founded by Dr. David Sinclair, is using groundbreaking science to reverse the body’s aging cells to prevent and treat multiple aging-related conditions.”
―For how long can humans live using these technologies?
“The technologies that will help us live up to 150 years old will be commercially available in the next 5 to 10 years. Specifically, gene therapy and editing technologies hold the prospect of eliminating all hereditary diseases and most forms of cancers. AI-based drug discovery technologies will help us find new drugs faster and more effectively than the current big pharma approach. Taking anti-aging pills could impact a few of the hallmarks of aging directly.
Technologies that will help us live to 150 and beyond, with the appearance and fitness of a 25-year-old will be available in 10 to 20 years. Some of them include the Internet of Bodies, in which health tracking devices will collect body data in real-time, and analyze it to prevent diseases.”
―What advice do you have for individual investors looking to invest in longevity technologies?
“It is a little difficult for me to provide personal investment advice, but people who are interested in longevity technologies may want to pay attention to several healthcare trends. For instance, wearable biosensors are making health monitoring more personalized and preventive. The Apple Watch and Biolinq, a non-invasive blood biochemistry monitoring device, are helping detect diseases early so that we can respond proactively.
AI doctors are also on the rise. Google’s deep learning program LYNA detects metastatic tumors 2.5 times more accurately than human doctors. Freenome, an AI-based early cancer diagnostic, can pinpoint cancer biomarkers in a small blood sample at its onset, without the need for a biopsy. In the case of colorectal cancer, it has shown industry-leading detection results, attracting a higher survival rate by a magnitude of 6 to 7 times.”
―In a 2013 poll by Pew Research Center, 56% of Americans said they would not want to live to 120 if given the chance. Why do you think people still resist or fear the idea of life extension?
“When people first think of life extension, they imagine it means being sick and disabled for longer during the later part of their lives. But the goal of healthy longevity is to extend the active part of your life so that you can feel great and enjoy life at any age.
If we are talking not just about longevity, but eternal life – that can indeed be scary. I think it is normal for humans to be uncomfortable with the idea for many reasons that are probably outside the scope of this interview. Would I want to live forever? Probably not. But my personal goal is to live to 200 years old in the body of a 25-year-old and have fun doing it.”
―Won’t extending human life put a strain on the planet?
“I get this question a lot. It makes sense to think that longer lifespans resulting in an increased population could lead to amplified pollution, global warming, food scarcity, and even the healthcare system not holding up.
However, I am witnessing positive trends. The environment is becoming fundamentally safer and longevity-friendly. For instance, the popularity of plant-based foods promises several health benefits while reducing greenhouse gas emissions, decreasing the use of cropland, and reducing pollutants leaching into water and soil. The impact of switching to a more plant-based diet is huge - if each person in the U.S. ate meat-free and dairy-free for just one day a week, it would have the same environmental impact as taking 7.6 million cars off the road.”
―In South Korea, a study found that the top 20% of income earners live 11 years longer than the bottom 20%. There are concerns that only the rich are likely to live longer.
“Financial inclusion is definitely an important topic that we should be talking about. As I mentioned earlier, the main mission of the Longevity Vision Fund is to make life extension technologies more affordable and accessible, so that everyone has fair access to them. We do this by supporting companies that have the potential to democratize technology and disrupt the current status quo in healthcare. I am very proud that we support technology in the fields of early diagnostics, gene editing and therapy, and drug development that reduce the cost of treatment or diagnostics by a magnitude of 10, 20, or even 50 times.”
―What advice do you have for people who want to live younger and longer right away?
“I always emphasize the importance of early diagnostics. I recommend that you get yourself checked regularly, and as comprehensively as possible, within your means.
One in nine men will develop prostate cancer after the age of 50. If detected early, the survival rate is almost 100%, but that figure drops to 31% when detected in stage 4. The same goes for colon cancer. The early-stage survival rate is 90%, a figure that drops down to 14% over time. Getting checked for cancer early is one of the best ways of securing the opportunity to live a longer life.”
This article was originally published on Oct. 2, 2023.