Extend Life Beyond the Age of 120 for $1 Million Reward

by Julia Samuel on January 13, 2015 at 12:58 PM

Scientists are promised a reward of $1 million to find the elixir of life that can extend life beyond age 120, the theoretical maximum human lifespan.

As of today, 15 scientific teams are already on the job to find the elusive fountain of youth. According to hedge fund manager Joon Yun, an entrepreneur, the chance of dying between ages 25 and 26 is only 0.1 percent.

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He wants scientists to 'hack the code of life' and make that percent consistent across the ages, the Guardian reported.

Yun has set up the $1 million 'Palo Alto Longevity Prize' to encourage scientists or anyone who can extend the life span in mice up to 50 percent in the first place.

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Once the initial goal of 50 percent increase in life expectancy is achieved, Yun plans to offer more money for feats above and beyond until longevity is no longer an issue.

Yun has a team of nearly 50 advisers, including scientists from some of America's top universities, for help.

There have been similar cases in 2013 where Google launched California Life Company with a mission to reverse engineer the biology that controls lifespan and devise interventions that enable people to lead longer and healthier lives.

Also, in 2014, pioneering American biologist and technologist Craig Venter along with Peter Diamandis, founder of the X Prize Foundation, announced a new company called Human Longevity Inc., which plans to create a database of 1 million human genome sequences by 2020.

Source: Medindia