Silicon Valley’s search for Fountain of Youth; Thiel joins Ellison in quest
Peter A. Thiel, co-founder and former chief executive officer of the online payments company, PayPal, has pledged $3.5 million “to support scientific research into the alleviation and eventual reversal of the debilities caused by aging,” and has invested in the Methuselah Foundation, a Springfield, Va., a nonprofit started and run by a colorful but controversial expert (pictured above) in aging research: Aubrey de Grey.
De Grey, a 43-year-old English researcher says he hopes to “radically postpone aging, giving indefinite life spans.” We contacted Thiel (pictured here) for comment early yesterday, but haven’t heard back. Thiel has become a well-known investor, running his own hedge fund, and also VC firm, the Founders Fund.
Oracle’s Larry Ellison has also pushed science aggressively in this area, but we haven’t heard much about his efforts of late.
If there is a place where the Fountain of Youth will be discovered, it will probably be here. There is more health research, and money going to fund it, than anywhere else. And there are wealthy entrepreneurs who want to fund this sort of thing.
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