Silicon Valley Tycoons Obsessed with 'Yeongsaeng'... Pouring Billions of Won [Im Juhyung's Tech Talk]

Jeff Bezos Invests in US Startup 'Altos Labs'
Anti-Aging Through Gene 'Reprogramming'
Peter Thiel and Larry Ellison Also Invest in 'Immortality Technology'
Billions Spent but No Significant Returns...

Founder of American e-commerce company 'Amazon', Jeff Bezos
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Jeff Bezos, founder of the world's largest e-commerce company Amazon. According to the U.S. business media Forbes, he currently holds a net worth of $203.9 billion (approximately 238 trillion KRW) and recently invested in a startup. This biotechnology company named Altos Lab is developing a technology called "human gene reprogramming." Their goal is to edit genes like computer programs to prevent aging or even make people young again.

At first glance, this technology sounds like something out of a science fiction (SF) movie, but Bezos and other Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are pouring trillions of won into it. So far, the "gene reprogramming technology" has never reached the stage of actual human clinical trials. Nevertheless, the world's wealthiest individuals are holding on to the hope of "immortality."

◆Altos Lab, the 'gene reprogramming' company backed by Bezos

According to the recent report by the UK financial media Financial Times, Bezos has recently made a large investment in Altos Lab. Altos Lab is a little-known biotechnology company researching methods to "reprogram" humans using gene editing technology. They have recently established joint headquarters in California, USA, and Cambridge, UK.

Reprogramming is a technology that manipulates each cell like computer source code. Inside the cell is a chromosome called the "telomere," which determines the cell's aging level and is commonly referred to as the "aging clock." Altos Lab believes that through reprogramming technology, it will be possible to stop or even "reverse" this clock.

Altos Labs is researching methods to stop or reverse the cellular 'aging clock' using gene reprogramming technology. / Photo by Yonhap News

The company is attracting talent mainly from Stanford University in the U.S. and the University of Cambridge in the UK, which are home to some of the world's top biotechnology intellects. Although the exact amount Altos Lab received from Bezos is unknown, it is presumed to be an unimaginably large sum. This is because the minimum annual salary offered by Altos Lab to professors at Anglo-American universities is as high as $1 million (approximately 1.17 billion KRW).

It is known that world-renowned and prestigious scientists have already joined Altos Lab. Professor Shinya Yamanaka, a Japanese scientist who won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for stem cell research, is also scheduled to serve as the company's chief scientist.

◆Silicon Valley billionaires obsessed with 'immortality'... "A long way to go"

Silicon Valley billionaires have long been obsessed with "immortality" technology. Not only Bezos but many American billionaires have invested astronomical amounts in anti-aging research companies.

Peter Thiel, a member of the so-called "PayPal Mafia" who co-founded the world's largest electronic payment company PayPal alongside Elon Musk, has also invested in a U.S. startup called Unity Biotechnology. According to the company's website, it is developing technology to extend human vitality so that people do not experience aging or disease during their lifetime. Their ultimate goal is to create new drugs that target and destroy aging cells.

Unity Biotechnology is researching a new drug that identifies and destroys cells responsible for causing aging. Photo by Unity Biotechnology Official Website Capture

In 2013, the American IT company Google established Calico, an anti-aging research company. Another Silicon Valley entrepreneur, Larry Ellison, is also reported to have donated billions of won to scientists conducting similar research.

From gene reprogramming to the destruction of aging cells, various "immortality" technology development companies are supported by numerous billionaires. However, none of these technologies have yet reached the stage of human clinical trials. So far, these technologies remain at best in the "seed" stage.

Regarding this, Professor Alejandro Ocampo, who studies biotechnology at a Swiss university, pointed out in an interview with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Technology Review, "The concept of reprogramming makes sense, but the expectations are too high."

He said, "It is possible to revert a single 80-year-old cell to 40 years old. This has never been achieved by any technology so far," but emphasized, "There is still a very long way to go before it can be developed to a stage applicable to real humans."

◆"Significant lifespan extension could become a disaster for humanity"

Nevertheless, Silicon Valley billionaires still highly value the potential of "immortality" technology. Perhaps in the distant future, human lifespans could be extended by hundreds of years.

However, some intellectuals warn that a world without aging could have adverse effects on human society.

Francis Fukuyama, an American political economist famous for his book "The End of History," which deals with the post-Cold War era, wrote an essay titled "Transhumanism is the Most Dangerous Idea in the World," warning, "If life science technology advances too quickly, we will try to fix many inconvenient aspects such as disease, physical limitations, and short lifespans," and cautioned, "A significant extension of lifespan could become a disaster for all humanity."

He argues that inequality between those who receive lifespan-extending treatments and the poor who do not will widen further, potentially leading to prolonged dictatorship rule or the breakdown of traditional family concepts, causing social instability.

Fukuyama emphasized, "People who believe that science and technology can enhance humans pretend to understand what is best for humanity, but no one truly knows what traits are ultimately beneficial for humanity because humans are organisms born through a very long and complex evolutionary process."