After augmented reality eyewear and self driving cars, Google is embarking on its most ambitious project yet, with the aim of extending human life. Watch this video from Time looking at Google’s new project below: The new ‘Calico’ project, set up by Google founder Larry Page, will “focus on health and well-being, in particular the […]
After augmented reality eyewear and self driving cars, Google is embarking on its most ambitious project yet, with the aim of extending human life.
Watch this video from Time looking at Google’s new project below:
The new ‘Calico’ project, set up by Google founder Larry Page, will “focus on health and well-being, in particular the challenge of ageing and associated diseases.”
Details of the project remain a mystery, but early reports indicate Google will use its capacity to collect and analyse vast data sets to find ways to beat disease.
Google did not provide any other details about the new company, including where it will be based, how many employees it will have or whether Page would have a direct role in its operations.
In an interview with Time magazine Page suggested it could be take 10 to 20 years before Calico’s efforts bear fruit.
But he also said Calico’s mission could prove to be even more important than curing cancer.
‘One of the things I thought was amazing is that if you solve cancer, you’d add about three years to people’s average life expectancy,’ Page told Time.
‘We think of solving cancer as this huge thing that’ll totally change the world. But when you really take a step back and look at it, yeah, there are many, many tragic cases of cancer, and it’s very, very sad, but in the aggregate, it’s not as big an advance as you might think.’
The initiative is being funded by Google, but will be run as a completely separate entity — an unusual move, but one that allows the company to expand its ambitions beyond the scope of those usually developed under its Ventures arm.
“Illness and ageing affect all our families. With some longer term, moonshot thinking around healthcare and biotechnology, I believe we can improve millions of lives,” said Page, who also introduced Arthur D. Levinson Chairman and former CEO of Genentech and Chairman of Apple, as the CEO of Calico.
“It’s impossible to imagine anyone better than Art—one of the leading scientists, entrepreneurs and CEOs of our generation—to take this new venture forward”.
Google previously ventured into the healthcare field in 2008 with the launch of its Google Health project designed to store medical records online.
However, after a lack of public interest, the firm was closed three years later following Page’s appointment to CEO in April 2011.
Exactly what Google decides Calico will work towards remain a mystery, but it seems like it might be the company’s biggest moon shot to date.
Read Larry Page’s blog announcement
