What I'm watching: The Future Of Longevity
Featuring the smartest scientists and most exciting startups in the space
Longevity Hound
January 15, 2024
The Buck Institute, the world’s first biotech institute devoted solely to longevity, from the new Future of Longevity documentary
What I'm watching: The Future of Longevity, a new 20-minute documentary put out by venture capital firm NFX. Contrary to its title, the documentary shows you not the future but the present of longevity — the labs and startups working on longevity, and the scientists inside them.
Why you might want to watch: I found it interesting to see the faces of the people I have written about before in this newsletter. Featured were Nathan Cheng, founder of the Longevity Biotech Fellowship; Eric Verdin, the President of the Buck Institute; and Joe Betts-Lacroix, CEO of Retro Biosciences.
It was also interesting to see inside some of the places I have written about in this newsletter, such as:
The Buck Institute, the first biotech institute devoted solely to aging
Retro Biosciences, the mysterious longevity startup funded by $180 million from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
Prenuvo, the whole-body MRI clinic that's become a jet set destination
So what's the gist of it all? The promise of this documentary is that one day soon, we will live longer, healthier, and that we might even be able to reverse aging. But that promise has been made for a long time, without ever being fulfilled. Is the current moment any different? Here's Buck Institute President Eric Verdin:
"Some people have asked me, 'Why now?' What happened now that there's such an excitement about the aging field is that if you think about the cycle of discovery, ultra-basic discoveries are made, and typically, there's a lag of about 20 years until these discoveries can slowly make their way into the clinic. And we're right at that transition."
That's a hopeful thought, and one I keep promoting in this newsletter as well. If you want to see the high-tech labs working on longevity right now, and get a glimpse into the future of the field, this documentary is interesting and worth-watching. You can find it below: