Archive for September 18th, 2006
Paypal founder clicks $3.5M to Aubrey de Grey
Monday, September 18th, 2006
As reported in the SF Chronicle, Paypal founder Peter Thiel (pronounced “teal”) has set up a multi-millon-dollar philanthropic grant for Aubrey de Grey’s Methuselah Foundation.
To my surprise, Aubrey was fond enough of my Slate piece on him last year that he invited me to the signing at Thiel’s home a short hike from mine in San Francisco. Another attendee shot some video of the event that may be on YouTube soon. I asked Peter why he was funding this particular organization. To paraphrase, he feels the Methuselah Foundation is pushing an area of research that’s been neglected as investors and scientists chase more lucrative short-term projects to cure aging’s effects—Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease, etc—rather than to find its root causes. His verbatim quote for a press release: “Iím backing Dr. de Grey, because I believe that his revolutionary approach to aging research will accelerate this process, allowing many people alive today to enjoy radically longer and healthier lives for themselves and their loved ones.”
SF Chron: Entrepreneur backs research on anti-aging; Scientist says humans could live indefinitely
