Google has invested in many projects over the years. In fact, they had invested in taxi firms, smart thermostats and artificial intelligence. Now, they are investing on something that might actually entail immortality, or at least increasing the lifespan of humans five-fold or up to 500 years.
This was confirmed in an interview with Google Ventures' President Bill Maris who thinks that it is indeed possible to extend the life of humans to up to 500 years. The company has backed cutting edge biotech firms in hopes of extending the lifespan of homo sapiens beyond the 68-year old average, as reported by Mail Online.
Bill Maris, 40, president and managing partner of Google's capital investment arm, told Bloomberg Markets, "If you ask me today, is it possible to live to be 500? The answer is yes."
"We have the tools in the life sciences to achieve anything that you have the audacity to envision. I just hope to live long enough not to die," he added.
The company, Google Ventures, already invested a total of $130 million in software company Flatiron Health, which is in the process of developing a cloud-based platform for the data pertaining to cancer in 2014. Also, it is supported by the Foundation Medicine which makes use genetics to plot personalized and individualized cancer care.
In addition, the tech giant has also set up Calico - an anti-ageing research and development laboratory. Google co-founder Larry Page said the project would concentrate on 'health, well-being and longevity'. In fact, Calico has a partnership with Abbvie to set up a research center to focus on neurodegeneration and cancer.
Bloomberg reports that Google is in search for immortality. For Maris, Foundation Medicine represents the beginning of a revolution and a breakthrough.
"The analogy I use is this," he says, holding up his iPhone 6. "Even five years ago, this would have been unimaginable. Twenty years ago, you wouldn't have been able to talk to anyone on this." Hence, he explains that nothing is impossible with science and technology.
Mr. Maris added that it is now his duty to invest in companies that can help people to live longer. "There are plenty of people, including us, that want to invest in consumer internet, but we can do more than that." He added, "There are a lot of billionaires in Silicon Valley, but in the end, we are all heading to the same place. If given the choice between making a lot of money or finding a way to make people live longer, what do you choose?"
