Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Sunday, Jul 06, 2025

Jeff Bezos: Amazon founder 'funds' new age-reversal company opening in UK

Jeff Bezos: Amazon founder 'funds' new age-reversal company opening in UK

Altos Labs has raised at least $270m (£231m) to look into whether biological reprogramming technology could revitalise animal bodies, ultimately prolonging human life.
A new start-up that aims to reverse aging is planning to open a lab in the UK, reportedly with funding from Jeff Bezos.

Altos Labs has raised at least $270m (£231m) to develop biological reprogramming technology, a way to rejuvenate cells that some scientists think could be extended to revitalise entire animal bodies, ultimately prolonging human life.

The company, which was incorporated in the US and in the UK earlier this year, is reported to have billionaires Jeff Bezos and Yuri Milner among its investors, according to MIT Technology Review.

Shinya Yamanaka, who shared a 2012 Nobel Prize for the discovery of reprogramming, will act as an unpaid senior scientist and will chair the company's scientific advisory board.

He found that with the addition of just four proteins, cells can be instructed to revert to a primitive state with the properties of embryonic stem cells.

Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a Spanish scientist also reportedly joining Altos, applied these principles to entire living mice, achieving signs of age reversal and leading him to term reprogramming a potential "elixir of life".

He has predicted that human lifespans could be increased by 50 years.

Although some of the mice in his experiments showed signs their tissues had become younger, others developed ugly embryonic tumours called teratomas, which can be cancerous.

"Although there are many hurdles to overcome, there is huge potential," Mr Yamanaka said.

Another expert joining the firm is Steve Horvath, a UCLA professor and developer of a "biological clock" that can accurately measure human aging and the effectiveness of any age-reversal drug developed.

At least initially, Altos will be paying researchers million-dollar salaries with no immediate expectation for products or revenues.

Other startups have been looking at reprogramming technology, including UK-based Shift Bioscience, but their efforts have not yet led to any treatments tested on people in clinical trials.

Calico Labs, a longevity company announced in 2013 by Google co-founder Larry Page, also runs a lab focused on reprogramming.

David Sinclair, a researcher at Harvard University who last year reported restoring sight to mice using the technology, said the field is uniquely promising.

"What else can you do that can reverse the age of the body?" he said. "In my lab we are ticking off the major organs and tissues, for instance skin, muscle and brain - to see which we can rejuvenate."

Alejandro Ocampo, who used to work in Mr Izpisua Belmonte's lab, said the technology can be used to "take a cell from an 80-year old and, in vitro, reverse the age by 40 years", but cautioned that it is "risky" and "a long way from human therapy".

The major question now is how to tailor reprogramming to see if it can safely rejuvenate animals without killing them, and whether the process can be carried out with ordinary drugs, rather than through the use of genetic engineering.

Reprogramming is still too dangerous to try on humans because in addition to making cells act younger, it changes their identity - for example, turning a skin cell into a stem cell.

Bezos reflected on aging in his final letter to Amazon shareholders before stepping down as CEO, saying: "Staving off death is a thing that you have to work at…If living things don't actively work to prevent it, they would eventually merge with their surroundings and cease to exist as autonomous beings.

"That is what happens when they die."
Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Germany Seeks Taliban Deal to Deport Afghan Migrants
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
Qatar Airways Clears Backlog of Passengers Following Missile Threats
Iran's Parliament Votes to Suspend Cooperation with Nuclear Watchdog
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Oman Set to Introduce Personal Income Tax, First in Gulf
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
G7 Leaders Fail to Reach Consensus on Key Global Issues
Mass exodus in Tehran as millions try to flee following Trump’s evacuation order
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
Energy Infrastructure Becomes War Zone in Middle East
Iran Conducts Ballistic Missile Launches Amid Heightened Tensions with Israel
Iran Signals Openness to Nuclear Negotiations Amid Ongoing Regional Tensions
Shock Within Iran’s Leadership: Khamenei’s Failed Plan to Launch 1,000 Missiles Against Israel
UK Deploys Jets to Middle East Amid Rising Tensions
Exiled Iranian Prince Reza Pahlavi Urges Overthrow of Khamenei Regime
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Iran Launches Extensive Missile Attack on Israel Following Israeli Strikes on Nuclear Sites
×