Conference Presentation, Panel, Fireside Chat, Interview
Fountain of Age: Unlocking the Secrets of Longer Life
- Driven by increased human longevity, the economy is projected to experience unprecedented growth with a shift in workforce demographics where individuals aged 60 to 70 remain productive, potentially raising the retirement age to 75.
- Human Longevity, Inc. (HLI) plans to mine massive datasets of genomes and non-genomic data to map measurable traits to genetic components, with a specific target to secure at least one million human genomes by 2020.
- Advanced machine learning capabilities are expected to generate accurate facial equivalents from DNA within current system limits, necessitating strict data security protocols to prevent de-identification risks.
- Predictive capabilities are anticipated to identify dementia symptoms up to 20 years before onset, fundamentally shifting preventative medicine and enabling clinical trials to test drugs on asymptomatic populations 20 years prior to symptom manifestation.
- Precision medicine utilizing genetic subpopulation determination is projected to allow clinical trials with only 100 patients instead of tens of thousands, significantly reducing trial duration and cost.
- The industry forecasts a tenfold increase in new drug availability if the FDA mandates immediate genome sequencing for all U.S. drug trials within the current decade.
- Genome sequencing costs are projected to drop below $200 or $300 within five years; consequently, sequencing machines costing $1 million each are expected to be decommissioned within 2.5 to 3 years as technology evolves.
- Computing speeds are expected to increase by several orders of magnitude within five years to handle the data volume associated with a million genomes and associated imaging.
- Newborn genome sequencing is predicted to become a standard first action in hospitals within the next decade, potentially preceding procedures like circumcision.
- HLI is in early planning stages for clinical trials using placental cell lines to treat sarcopenia and increase muscle mass.
- Peter Diamandis predicts that healthcare and education will be massively disrupted within the coming decade, leading to reduced population pressures through lower reproductive rates in healthier, more literate populations.
- Economic expansion driven by individual capital spent on extending healthy lives is anticipated to mirror the historical trajectory of cell phone adoption.
- Technological convergence involving computing, machine learning, and AI is expected to drive more scientific discoveries in the next decade than in the previous 100 years, making healthy human aging inevitable over the next 20 to 50 years.
- Ethical and social challenges are expected to arise regarding genetic screening for athletic performance, disease risk, and political candidacy, as genetic probabilities for conditions like Alzheimer's become predictable.
- Future discussions with NASA regarding astronaut selection based on genetic risks, such as cardiomyopathy, are anticipated to determine eligibility for long-term space flights.