Entrepreneur Peter H. Diamandis discusses his work with the new company Human Longevity Inc., which seeks to extend the healthy human lifespan. The goal is to make 100 years old the new 60 with genome sequencing serving as the catalyst for this ambitious achievement. Unlocking the secrets of the human genome should allow us to determine the necessary course of action for achieving longevity.
Peter Diamandis: In 2014 I announced one of my boldest companies. It’s a company called Human Longevity Inc. I co-founded it with Craig Venter, the first guy to sequence the human genome. And Bob Hariri, one of the top stem cell scientists and businessmen in the world. And we founded Human Longevity Incorporated as a means to extend the healthy human lifespan. To make 100 years old the new 60. And in the first year of operations we built the largest genome-sequencing facility in the world. And that genome-sequencing facility besides your genome, the 3.2 billion letters from your father and the 3.2 billion letters from your mother, we are also sequencing your microbiome. You are a collection of 10 trillion human cells and 100 trillion bacterial cells. But besides that your full phenotype, your MRI, the full imaging of your body, your metabolome, the 24 chemicals in your bloodstream — all of this data is being collected and then we’re using machine learning to mine that data for the secrets of what drives cancer, what drives heart disease, what drives neurodegenerative disease.
With a mission of making sure that when you’re 100, you look good, you move good, you think good, you feel great. And I think that’s where we’re going. Our ability to rapidly sequence a genome — take what was 100 million dollars and nine months down to a thousand bucks and a few hours is going to unlock the secrets. We are the product of our genome. How you look, how you sound, the structures of your brain are all coded for in our genes. So as we unlock this we’re going to create tremendous breakthroughs in the healthy human lifespan, inventing new drugs that are personalized to you. It’s going to reinvent health on an epic scale.
