90 May Soon Be A Relatively Young Age As Longevity Research Intensifies

Only about 0.6% of senior citizens in the US reach nonagenarian age (90 years and above) based on 2010 estimates. While this is what many people envision to be ripe old age, it is also the point at which the majority of humans suffer from the diseases of aging. Data from the CDC shows that the country’s oldest segment has the highest prevalence of high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke. Fortunately, though, recent advances in anti-aging research and initiatives offer the hope of a better future. Developments in AI-enabled diagnostics, regenerative medicine, wearables, age-reversing pills, and other areas of longevity point to a future where humans could live to over 100 years in optimal health. For some scientists, investors, and extreme longevity enthusiasts, it is within the realms of possibility for a child born today to live up to 200 years or even more. Sergey Young is the founder of Longevity Vision Fund, a venture capital firm that focuses on breakthroughs in age-related disease. Young has raised over $100 million in funding and invested in at least 16 companies ranging from AI-enabled drug discovery and organ regeneration to cancer-detecting blood tests. He is set to publish a book called ‘The Science and Technology of Growing Young’ in August 2021. Young classifies longevity research into three different levels of progression. Level one refers to interventions that are already achievable in today’s environment. “It’s about wearables, DIY diagnostics, diet, digital healthcare delivery, and a lot of apps. Some people call it boring stuff, but things like early cancer diagnostics completely disrupt the space of oncology. In radiology, for instance, we’re seeing diagnosis by AI and human radiologists. These are all things that are happening now,” he says. Level two encompasses measures that will come into play within the next 5-15 years to help slow down or reverse aging. This includes intercessions such as gene therapy, age reversal drugs, and regenerative medicine. “Soon we will be able to change our DNA makeup to influence aging. The biggest obstacles will not be science and technology, but regulation and ethics,” said Mr. Young, “I’m personally fascinated by organ regeneration technologies — the ability to replace your organs, upgrade them. We have a portfolio company, LyGenesis, in this space that recently got FDA approval to start trials in patients with end-stage liver disease,”. The third and final level of longevity research involves measures that will materialize within the next 25 to 50 years. This includes things that might be thought of as science fiction today, such as machine-brain integration, complete organ replacement, and the ‘Internet of the Body’. The pace of longevity innovation is accelerating as new breakthroughs are realized on an almost consistent basis. But Mr. Young argues that more needs to be done to make sure that results can be translated into actionable solutions much faster. “It’s widely cited that it takes an average of 17 years for research evidence to reach clinical practice. So we need new disruptive technologies to disrupt the current systems or develop a parallel system,” he adds. Young believes that with such disruptive technologies, healthcare will be more valuable, more direct-to-consumer, more data-driven, and more efficient. “I expect the largest healthcare players will be Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple. Because they have the data,” he says.