This is a really good article…
Retro Biosciences, a startup with $180 million from Sam Altman, has a simple and audacious goal: Add 10 good years to your life. And until now, we haven’t had a glimpse of its best ideas.
The company Betts-LaCroix started, alongside the scientists Matt Buckley and Sheng Ding, is called Retro Biosciences Inc. and has a pitch that’s as ambitious as Silicon Valley gets. It wants to give every human 10 additional years of healthy, vigorous life. To pull this off, and pull it off quickly, Retro has eschewed a number of biotechnology startup traditions. Most notably, instead of chasing a single super-promising compound or treatment, it’s decided to pursue five tracks of research at the same time. It’s a high-risk, costly strategy made possible only by the company’s unusual backing. Retro has raised $180 million from one investor—Sam Altman, OpenAI Inc.’s co-founder and [recently ousted and de-ousted] chief executive officer.
The company of about 50 people has small teams shooting for breakthroughs in autophagy (the removal of damaged cells), the rejuvenation of blood plasma and three research programs tied to what the biotech industry calls partial cell reprogramming.
The amount of money that Retro, NewLimit and Altos Labs have raised is both staggering and not. These companies are pursuing technology that could reshape human life. In a world where Hollywood will place equal-size financial bets on several movies in the coming year, it’s actually almost shocking that more companies haven’t opted to chase what could be the best business of all time.
full article: https://archive.ph/3ZcXT#selection-4781.0-4797.0