Calico Life Sciences LLC is an
Alphabet subsidiary responsible for health
research and development,
life sciences and
biotechnology
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...
. Originating on September 18, 2013 prior to the
Google restructuring and headed by
Bill Maris
Bill Maris (born William J. Maris) is an American entrepreneur and venture capitalist focused on technology and the life sciences. Bill Maris's investments have to date resulted in over 150 exits and more than 50 companies that have grown to over ...
with the goal of combating
aging
Ageing ( BE) or aging ( AE) is the process of becoming older. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi, whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologically immortal. In ...
and
diseases of aging, it was incorporated into Alphabet with Google's other sister divisions in 2015.
In Google's 2013 Founders Letter,
Larry Page described Calico as a company focused on "health, well-being, and
longevity" and the company's name additionally as a play on "California Life Company."
Partnerships and staff
In September 2014, it was announced that Calico, in partnership with
AbbVie, would be opening up an R&D facility focused on aging and age-related diseases, such as
neurodegeneration and
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
. Initially, each company will invest $350 million, with an option for each to add an extra $500 million later on. In the same month, Calico announced a partnership with the
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UT Southwestern or UTSW) is a Public university, public Academic health science centre, academic health science center in Dallas, Texas. With approximately 18,800 employees, more than 2,900 ful ...
and 2M Companies regarding drug development for neurodegenerative disorders.
In 2015, the
Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard announced a partnership with Calico to "advance research on age-related diseases and therapeutics", a further partnership also was announced with the
Buck Institute for Research on Aging. Also in 2015, Calico announced a partnership with
QB3 based on researching the biology of aging and identifying potential therapeutics for age-related diseases and one with
AncestryDNA
Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.
In November 2018 ...
based on conducting research into the genetics of human lifespan.
At the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, Calico lost two top scientists; in December 2017 Hal Barron, its head of R&D, left for
GlaxoSmithKline, and in March 2018
Daphne Koller
Daphne Koller ( he, דפנה קולר; born August 27, 1968) is an Israeli-American computer scientist. She was a professor in the department of computer science at Stanford University and a MacArthur Foundation fellowship recipient. She is o ...
, who was leading their AI efforts, left to pursue a venture in applying machine learning techniques to drug design.
Reception
Aubrey de Grey
Aubrey David Nicholas Jasper de Grey (; born 20 April 1963) is an English author and biomedical gerontologist. He is the author of ''The Mitochondrial Free Radical Theory of Aging'' (1999) and co-author of ''Ending Aging'' (2007). He is known ...
has criticized Calico in an interview in 2017, calling it a "massive disappointment". De Grey claimed that Calico is ignoring existing research on longevity, and instead focuses on understanding aging better. De Grey asserted that, among other people at the top,
CSO David Botstein is responsible for this approach, being "a basic scientist through and through" who would therefore "never feel that we have enough knowledge".
The company was criticized for its secrecy, contrary to Google's "open culture" politics, and ineffectiveness given its huge budget.
See also
*
Verily
*
Altos Labs
*
SENS Research Foundation
*
Human Longevity
*
Life extension
References
External links
*
{{Life extension, state=collapsed
GV companies
Biogerontology organizations
Health care companies based in California
Biotechnology companies of the United States
Life sciences industry
Life extension organizations
American companies established in 2013
Biotechnology companies established in 2013
Alphabet Inc.
2013 establishments in California
Companies based in South San Francisco, California
Alphabet Inc. subsidiaries