Methuselah Foundation
 | |
| Founded | 2003 |
|---|---|
| Type | 501(c)(3) |
| Focus | Life extension, rejuvenation, tissue engineering |
| Location | |
Area served | Global |
| Method | New Organ Prize, Mprize, Research Grants, Angel Investing |
| Slogan | Extending Healthy Life |
| Website | www.methuselahfoundation.org |
Methuselah Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to extending the healthy human lifespan by advancing tissue engineering and regenerative medicine therapies. It was co-founded in 2003 by Aubrey de Grey and David Gobel, and is based in Springfield, Virginia, United States. According to its website, Methuselah has given more than $4 million to support research and development in regenerative medicine.[1]
Current projects
Methuselah Mouse Prize
In 2003, David Gobel seed-funded the Methuselah Mouse Prize (Mprize) to encourage the development of new life extension therapies in mice, which are genetically similar to humans. So far, three Mouse Prizes have been awarded: one for breaking longevity records to Andrzej Bartke of Southern Illinois University; one for late-onset rejuvenation strategies to Stephen Spindler of the University of California; and one to Z. Dave Sharp for his work with the pharmaceutical rapamycin.[2]
On May 30, 2014, at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the American Aging Association, Methuselah awarded a $10,000 Mprize to Huber Warner for his founding of the National Institute on Aging’s Interventions Testing Program. Warner is a former program director for the NIA Biology of Aging Program and former Associate Dean of Research for the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota.[3]
New Organ Prize
In 2013, Methuselah launched a second prize series, entitled New Organ, to accelerate solutions to the global organ shortage.[4] The first prize in this series, the $1 million New Organ Liver Prize, “will award $1,000,000 to the first team that creates a bioengineered replacement for the native liver of a large mammal, enabling it to recover in the absence of native function and survive three months with a normal lifestyle.” Future prizes under consideration include awards for the “heart, lung, and kidney.”[5]
Vascular Tissue Challenge
In 2016, Methuselah foundation partnered with NASA to create the Vascular Tissue Challenge. Under this prize, teams will compete to "successfully create thick, human vascularized organ tissue in an in-vitro environment while maintaining metabolic functionality similar to their in vivo native cells throughout a 30-day survival period." [6] A $500,000 prize purse will be divided among the first three teams that can successfully complete the challenge. Thick-tissue vascularization is one of the critical enabling challenges in tissue engineering that would be required to be overcome to produce the tissues and organs for patients in need. [7]
Strategic partnerships
Methuselah has also provided funding and strategic support to companies developing breakthrough technologies and clinical interventions in regenerative medicine. These companies include Organovo, a pioneer in 3D tissue printing, and Silverstone Solutions, a maker of kidney-matching software that has enabled hospitals and transplant organizations to more quickly and accurately pair patients with compatible donors. Another Methuselah backed company is Oisín, which is developing a genetically-targeted intervention to clear senescence cells. [8]
In 2013, Methuselah announced a new $500,000 partnership with Organovo to place 3D bioprinters in several U.S. university research labs as springboards for cutting-edge research. Yale University and The University of California, San Francisco have already become recipients of these 3D tissue fabrication systems. [9]
Past projects
SENS Research Foundation
In 2007, under the auspices of the Methuselah Foundation, David Gobel and Aubrey de Grey initiated a new rejuvenation research program entitled “Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence” (SENS) in order to help identify, repair and remove cell-level damage before it causes systemic harm.
Through Methuselah, Gobel and de Grey established research programs focused on advanced human bioremedial biology at Rice University and Arizona State University—the world's first use of environmental remediation techniques to be directed at reversing "pollution" in human cells.[10] They also established a Mitochondrial Research initiative at Cambridge University aimed at improving the error correction and repair capabilities of fundamental energy producing organelles in humans.[11]
Under the continuing leadership of de Grey, SENS spun out from Methuselah as the independent SENS Research Foundation in 2009, and continues its work “to use regenerative medicine to repair the damage underlying the diseases of aging.”[12]
Donors
On September 16, 2006, Peter Thiel, co-founder and former CEO of PayPal, announced a pledge of $3.5 million to the Methuselah Foundation "to support scientific research into the alleviation and eventual reversal of the debilities caused by aging" (SENS research).[13]
References
- ↑ Methuselah Foundation - About
- ↑ Methuselah Foundation - Work
- ↑ “Methuselah Foundation Announces Methuselah Prize Award to Dr. Huber Warner”, PRWEB, May 30, 2014.
- ↑ "Methuselah Foundation Announces $1 Million 'New Organ Liver Prize' at World Stem Cell Summit", press release, December 5, 2013.
- ↑ New Organ - Liver Prize
- ↑ New Organ - Vascular Tissue Challenge
- ↑
- ↑ [oisinbio.com]
- ↑ "Organovo and Methuselah Foundation Announce Funding of Bioprinting Research at Research Institutions", Wall Street Journal Market Watch, July 24, 2013.
- ↑ "Engineering Away Lysosomal Junk: Medical Bioremediation", Bruce E. Rittmann and John Schloendorn. Rejuvenation Research. September 2007, 10(3): 359-366. doi:10.1089/rej.2007.0594.
- ↑ Publications | SENS Research Foundation
- ↑ About SENS Research Foundation
- ↑ Davidson, Keay (September 18, 2006). "BAY AREA — Entrepreneur backs research on anti-aging — Scientist says humans could live indefinitely". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
