Methuselah Fund Launches New Website
The Methuselah Fund is the evolution of the Methuselah Foundation's long-standing activities as an incubator of startups, such as Organovo, Oisin Biotechnologies, and Leucadia Therapeutics. In this initiative, the foundation has built a novel fund structure that is as much focused on acceleration of the non-profit mission to bring aging under medical control as it is on for-profit returns. In recent months long-standing members of our community of philanthropic supporters have been invited to invest to help make this a success. Of note for today is that the fund has just launched its website:
The Methuselah Fund (M Fund) is designed to accelerate results in the longevity field, extending the healthy human lifespan. Our success is measured by financial return on investments and furthering the mission, with the mission being the priority. Our DNA stems from The Methuselah Foundation, which has been working hard during the last 16 years to extend the healthy human lifespan. Our access to the key players in this space is significant and our ability to help our companies thrive is proven.
Our strategies are meant to be accessible to everyone since elegantly simple ideas can move masses. Our portfolio companies are achieving one or more of the our anti-aging strategies. New parts for people: technologies that will create new organs, bones, vasculature (with the probable near-term exception of the brain). Get the crud out: Safely remove senescent and other destructive biological structures, intercellular damage or waste (i.e. amyloid), etc. Restore the rivers: restore the circulatory system to full competence. Debug the code: restore informational integrity and viability of cells. Restock the shelves: replenish building blocks such as stem cells and immune system antibodies. Lust for life: restore the capacity for joy. For instance, rejuvenated senses and athletic competence.
Our portfolio companies include Leucadia Therapeutics and Oisin Biotechnologies. Leucadia Therapeutics has a unique and compelling approach on how to potentially predict, halt and cure early stage Alzheimer's Disease. 25 years of research have focused on plaques and tangles as the cause of Alzheimer's. At Leucadia, it is known that those are pathological effects of a more serious underlying condition. The science allows for the creation of a sophisticated surgical procedure bypassing the small molecule approach that has shown no progress until now. Oisin Biotechnologies' ground-breaking research and technology is demonstrating that one of the solutions to mitigating the effects of age-related diseases is to address the damage resulting from the aging process itself. Oisin is developing a highly precise, DNA-targeting platform to clear senescent cells. Oisin's platform has shown as much as an 80% reduction in senescent cells in cell culture and significant reductions of senescent cell burden in naturally aged mice.
Reminds me of a famous quote attributed to Methuselah;
'Caloric restriction sounds like a good anti-death strategy right up until you fail to trigger the airbag sensor'