I expect them to be nice places to work (because they are not subject to the vulgar and demeaning necessity to turn
a profit), I also don’t expect them to be making much progress in the near future.
I have spoken to someone who has spoken to some of the scientific higher ups at Calico and they are excited about the longer-term funding models for biomedical research they think they can get there for sure.
I have also seen a scientific talk about a project that was taken up by Calico from a researcher who visited my university. Honestly not sure how much detail I should/can go into about the details of the project before I look up how much of what I saw was published versus not (haven’t thought about it in a while), but I saw very preliminary data from mice on the effects of a small molecule from a broad screen in slowing the progression of neurodegenerative disease and traumatic brain injury.
Having no new information for ~2 years on the subject but having seen what I saw there and knowing what I know about cell biology, I find myself suspecting that it probably will actually slow these diseases, probably does not affect lifespan much especially for the healthy, and in my estimation has a good chance of increasing the rate of cancer progression (which needs more research, this hasn’t been demonstrated). Which would totally be worth it for the diseases involved.
That assessment is actually quite common with approaches to radical longevity “likely leads to more cancers.”
I am encouraged for the long term prospects of SENS in particular because the “regular maintenance” approach doesn’t necessarily require mucking around with internal cellular processes. At least not as much as the more radical approaches.
I expect them to be nice places to work (because they are not subject to the vulgar and demeaning necessity to turn a profit), I also don’t expect them to be making much progress in the near future.
I have spoken to someone who has spoken to some of the scientific higher ups at Calico and they are excited about the longer-term funding models for biomedical research they think they can get there for sure.
I have also seen a scientific talk about a project that was taken up by Calico from a researcher who visited my university. Honestly not sure how much detail I should/can go into about the details of the project before I look up how much of what I saw was published versus not (haven’t thought about it in a while), but I saw very preliminary data from mice on the effects of a small molecule from a broad screen in slowing the progression of neurodegenerative disease and traumatic brain injury.
Having no new information for ~2 years on the subject but having seen what I saw there and knowing what I know about cell biology, I find myself suspecting that it probably will actually slow these diseases, probably does not affect lifespan much especially for the healthy, and in my estimation has a good chance of increasing the rate of cancer progression (which needs more research, this hasn’t been demonstrated). Which would totally be worth it for the diseases involved.
EDIT: Alright, found press releases. https://www.calicolabs.com/news/2014/09/11/
http://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(14)00990-8
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4163014/
That assessment is actually quite common with approaches to radical longevity “likely leads to more cancers.”
I am encouraged for the long term prospects of SENS in particular because the “regular maintenance” approach doesn’t necessarily require mucking around with internal cellular processes. At least not as much as the more radical approaches.