With Calico, Google looks to make your lifespan its business

With Calico, Google looks to make your lifespan its business

Today's tech super-giants have, at least partially, learned from the past. From Xerox to RIM, there are plenty of cautionary tales about the dangers of refusing the move with the times, or indeed to predict them. Many large corporations now set aside a portion of their budget for more speculative ventures, out-there concepts that will probably fail, but which could just ensure their success for years or decades to come. Google has been among the most ambitious in this regard, rolling out services like Google Fiber, products like Google Glass, and "moonshot" research investments like renewable energy and the self-driving car.

Now Google has announced its latest venture, quite possibly its most ambitious and out of character so far: Calico. The newly formed company has set itself to "focus on health and well-being, in particular the challenge of aging and associated diseases." Those are the words of Google co-founder Larry Page, in a two-part press release that manages to go on at some length without giving away much concrete information. We know that Calico will focus on life extension and improvement, but in what way and with what business model, the company has yet to even explain.

Most of Google's announcement has to do with the new venture's CEO, Art Levinson. As the chairman of Apple and former CEO of biotech pioneer Genentech, he seems to have been training for a job like for some time. Whatever form Google's efforts with Calico eventually take, you can be sure they'll require a leader with experience in the world of consumer tech. His history working his way from research scientist on up to CEO of Genentech will also be appreciated, bringing medical connections and credibility to a company that's currently low on both. Google Health, the company's last foray into the health industry, was a failure and shuttered its doors this January.

Larry Page may have good reason to be thinking about the troubles of aging, having publicly struggled with health issues in the past few years. A history of vocal nerve strain led him to make a significant donation to research into the problem. Just how the company plans to bring its vision of a better, longer human experience is anyone's guess, and will depend on just how far outside its comfort zone Google is willing to go. Will they stick with software solutions for health issues, or move on to health-related hardware and medical engineering? Will they be targeting the public, or health care providers?

In a comment to Time Magazine, Page made sure to restate the Calico will think outside the box. A cure for cancer, he points out, would only extent the average human lifespan by 3 years - they want to think bigger than that. They could be setting their sights on the actual causes of aging, the molecular processes that break down cells. We think of this process as being totally intractable, that the single most fundamental fact about life is that it ends. As seen in their recent bid to attract recruits with life extension technology, Google's top brass might have a slightly different idea.

The term "well-being" in this press release also brings up interesting possibilities. Technologies like deep brain stimulation for enhanced cognitive ability seem to jive well with Google' corporate image, and could very conceivably be sold as a means to fight the slowing of certain brain processes with age. Google's gaze is moving ever further from their roots as a simple search provider. The wild-eyed folks at the fringes of this issue say we could conceivably beat aging altogether, and with its new messaging Google certainly seems to be on that same path of thought. Though it's only the wildest of speculation, this is a company that can discuss building a space elevator with a straight face. With horizons that broad, it's hard to discount anything as a possibility.

Now read: Aging, cryonics, and the quest for immortality

news by September 19, 2013 at 08:02PM