An Interview With Dave Gobel of the Methuselah Foundation

Molecular biologist Attila Chordash recently conducted a short interview with Dave Gobel, co-founder of the Methuselah Foundation. He's been determinedly working away to make this thing a success since the beginning. You can find the interview over at Pimm. His thoughts on the Mprize for longevity research caught my eye:

You put up the money and tell competitors what they need to do. The larger the prize, the more competitors. It's like an inexpensive way of being able to put chips on every single spot on a roulette table. The best way to find a solution to unknown problems is to generate high motivation among the greatest number of thinkers/actors without too much regard to reputation of the competitors - let the best outcome win - I don’t care how they dress.

Incentives make the world go round, which is why research prizes are so effective. The prospect of money and fame are wonderful motivators, as is demonstrated in the business community each and every day. It's a pity that this obvious truth is so often forgotten when it comes to the highly regulated field of medical research and development.

Comments

I am 93 and in good health. I do a liturgy each morning that starts with "Each day, I am getting better and better.... and requires aboue 4 minutes of recitation. I have written a 2000 word thesis explaining why Methuselah and his contemporaries lived hundreds of years, why we, don't and what we can do about it. It has to do with mind over matter,attitude, the subconscious and the DNA. I expect to live to 200 and am the posterboy for the process called "The Methuselah Effect", a must read. My thought was that the foundation could sell the pamphlet and I might receive $1.00 for each one sold so I could enjoy my long retirement and proceeds from the pamphlet
would help finance your other projects, a win, win situation.

Bernard Nadel 49 Reynolds Landing Irvington VA 22480

Posted by: Bernard Nadel at January 30th, 2010 1:25 PM

We are living longer but not nearly as long as our early forebears. Adam's biggest fear was that he might live forever. You see, there were no super bowls, no television, no Tiger Wood exploits to relieve the boredom.Adam had enough at age 930. Medical advances? Some, but many "cures" are worse than the disease and are expensive. No, I believe that we are living longer because of social security, the internet, and television.

Bob Nadel

Posted by: Bob Nadel at March 5th, 2011 2:50 PM
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