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 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 Lawrence Edward Page (born March 26, 1973) is an American business magnate, computer scientist and internet entrepreneur. He is best known for co-founding Google with Sergey Brin. Page was the chief executive officer of Google from 1997 unti ...

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 AbbVie is an American publicly traded biopharmaceutical company founded in 2013. It originated as a spin-off of Abbott Laboratories. History On October 19, 2011, Abbott Laboratories announced its plan to separate into two publicly traded compani ...

, 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 academic health science center in Dallas, Texas. With approximately 18,800 employees, more than 2,900 full-time faculty, and nearly 4 million outpatient vi ...

and 2M Companies regarding drug development for neurodegenerative disorders. In 2015, the

Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Broad(s) or The Broad(s) may refer to: People * A slang term for a woman. * Broad (surname), a surname Places * Broad Peak, on the border between Pakistan and China, the 12th highest mountain on Earth * The Broads, a network of mostly navi ...

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 The Buck Institute for Research on Aging is an independent biomedical research institute that researches aging and age-related disease. The mission of the Buck Institute is to extend the healthy years of life. The Buck Institute is one of nine ce ...

. 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 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 one ...

, 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.

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

Partnerships and staff

Reception

See also

References

External links