$1 Billion Science Fund to Use Blockchain Projects to Extend Human Lifespan

[Hydrogen]

If you ever thought that living over a 100 years could only be possible only for future generations, you might be mistaken. Technology and AI are advancing rapidly, and with the help of blockchain, longevity achievements might be not far ahead.

The Longevity Science Foundation, based in Switzerland, launched a $1 billion fund over the span of ten years for research and projects to advance human longevity and extend lifespan to 120+ years.

The non-profit organization aims to make longevity medicine available for everyone and will focus on four main research areas: therapeutics, predictive diagnostics, personalised medicine, and artificial intelligence. The foundation plans to fund the development of medical technology, which broadly includes blockchain.

Blockchain in the Medical Industry
Healthcare data is immense and creates challenges in centralization and security. On average, a hospital produces 760 terabytes of data every year. However, 80% of the data lacks structure and is inaccessible to researchers, according to an article by Garri Zmudze from Longevity Science Foundation.

The need for security and reoccurring consent of the data usage prevents progress for medical research. With the help of blockchain and AI, patient consent can be easily obtained, data can be unlocked for analysis, and its usage can be transparent.

“Without blockchain, artificial intelligence lacks the ethically sourced and protected biomedical data it needs to find new solutions. Without artificial intelligence, the vast amounts of data protected by blockchain remain secure but unusable for research,”

the article says.

Blockchain Technology and Longevity Research
VitaDAO is a decentralized collective that funds longevity research. The web3-based organization aspires to “create a world where longevity therapeutics are collectively funded, owned and governed by the population that will benefit from them.”

VitaDAO’s ecosystem has an open structure–everyone who owns VITA tokens can access it. To get the tokens, you need to contribute work, funds, or other resources to VitaDAO. In addition, “its collective membership, rather than a CEO or a handful of grant reviewers, will decide by vote how to deploy its funding, manage its IP, and share/publish its data.”

The organization already held a token auction on a crypto platform to receive funding for longevity researchers and raised $5.1 million (400% more than expected).

How Can Blockchain Help to Advance Longevity?
According to biochemist and researcher Eleanor Sheekey, there are two main ways in which blockchain can help to advance longevity. The first is through the funding of longevity projects such as through the recently launched VitaDAO. This not only raises significant funding for research projects but also aids in the commercialisation of drugs if they are successful.

The second way is by exploiting some of the features of blockchain technology such as security and storage of data, which is most relevant to the application of personalised or precision medicine whereby patient information such as genetics, blood profile data, microbiome assessments, epigenetic methylation, and sleep data could be transacted and analysed without risk of the patient data getting into the “wrong hands” and being exploited.

“I think it is hard to tell for now what the potential of blockchain in medical research might be, but I don't foresee a future whereby blockchain technology is not a part of medical research,”

Sheekey told DailyCoin during an email interview.

On The Flipside

• One of the major challenges of blockchain in healthcare is the technology’s adoption.
• The medical industry requires collaboration when it comes to blockchain in order to embrace the information exchange and be transparent on patient data.

Why You Should Care?
Funding longevity projects through blockchain technology might be one of the best ways to be part of the research process. Blockchain adds many benefits to the medical industry, but poses some technical challenges.

https://dailycoin.com/1-billion-science-fund-to-use-blockchain-projects-to-extend-human-lifespan/

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Ways this project is related to blockchain & crypto.

1.  A crypto coin is used to raise funds in an effort to fund the project
2.  Token holders vote to determine how funding and resources are allocated
3.  Blockchain is used to protect the integrity of medical data
4.  It is claimed their blockchain design protects privacy and data of patients

VitaDAO is a decentralized collective that funds longevity research.

A new term has appeared: "decentralized collective."  Normally the term collective is associated with socialism. It is an interesting assortment of terminology.

genetics, blood profile data, microbiome assessments, epigenetic methylation

Microbiome assessments and epigenetic methylation are interesting topics as far as enhancing longevity goes. This seems like it could turn out to be a big data project. Where massive volumes of lifestyle and genetic data is analyzed to find connections in previously unknown trends which contribute towards longer life.

It is known that identical twins are clones of each other with identical DNA. Epigenetic traits which can distinguish identical twins from each other, isn't a topic which has had much research conducted on it. AFAIK. There could be potential for gains and breakthroughs here.

[NeuroticFish]

It looks to me like a private blockchain. And if it's private, a database may be much better suited.
If I'm wrong and it's not a private blockchain, then what would be the incentives for nodes and miners to store and protect this data?

Also if it's public blockchain, people may try to get access to protected data, from medical data to people's personal info.
And I don't really see the medical and pharmaceutic industries be just nice and share tremendous amounts of information "for the common good".


So while I'd love to be wrong and this project just go on and get to results, I see it as a money hog, using blockchain unnecessarily to just over-complicate things.

[Vaskiy]

As said in the above quote it is completely a private blockchain and things were made more complex associating with the medical industry. One of the biggest industry where things were kept more confidential is the medical industry. The same data into the hands of private network is a way of money making and nothing productive.

One thing that reached my mind (if the blockchain is public) is about the transparency in medical data with end users unknown. With this it is possible to make more researchers and make the medical industry more strong and find solutions for different diseases. It also helps with making analytical data on percentage of people affected by specific disorders.

[fiulpro]

This can be integrated with Twins study as well. The study might have a lot of scope for sure but the idea lies behind using it efficiently. The good thing is : people who are investing in it, would have a say in it.
- Using blockchain would not only provide a transparent system but it would also attract more investors as well.
- I do believe more companies should try and integrate it since it's always an issue so as how the funds are used and at the same time they can have a say against *corruption* as well.
- I do not think that they are overcomplicating things, even if it's a private blockchain it's providing transparency to it's investors. Being public might give them more credibility.

[Hydrogen]

Can a blockchain be private if its shared across datacenters crunching large chunks of medical data in search of correlation? I wouldn't mind reading different takes on that. 

Maintaining data integrity is one claimed aspect of blockchains. In theory, attackers would need to perform 51% attacks to alter segments of the backend data. It is claimed that their blockchain obfuscates or encrypts data in a way which enhances privacy. It is mentioned their project is funded by VITA tokens. Miners could be rewarded with VITA although it is not mentioned how mining is specifically implemented.

On average, a hospital produces 760 terabytes of data every year. However, 80% of the data lacks structure and is inaccessible to researchers, according to an article by Garri Zmudze from Longevity Science Foundation.

The need for security and reoccurring consent of the data usage prevents progress for medical research. With the help of blockchain and AI, patient consent can be easily obtained, data can be unlocked for analysis, and its usage can be transparent.

I think the above highlights some of their plans to leverage blockchain tech to provide researchers with better tools and greater access to medical data.

VitaDAO’s ecosystem has an open structure–everyone who owns VITA tokens can access it. To get the tokens, you need to contribute work, funds, or other resources to VitaDAO. In addition, “its collective membership, rather than a CEO or a handful of grant reviewers, will decide by vote how to deploy its funding, manage its IP, and share/publish its data.”

The organization already held a token auction on a crypto platform to receive funding for longevity researchers and raised $5.1 million (400% more than expected).

It seems they were also able to generate $5 million in funding with their own VITA crypto token.

[paxmao]

Be aware of the buzzwords little grasshopper. Life extension, blockchain, fund,... Red alerts flashing all over. Should anyone wish to invest in real research on human life extension, feel free to have an in-depth look at a side of Google that is not that well know to the general public: "Google Other Projects", this includes research in AI, self driving cars and... medical research in life extension.

Not that many people know that eh?

[Ucy]

I wonder exactly how they plan to easily obtain patients consent probably to have them release their private/sensitive medical data, assuming everyone controls his/her data on the Decentralized Network with medical rules and process guiding how data is released by individual.
In regards to the life extension research, I wonder who would like to extend their life and witness the horror of future world on earth.
Besides, we can't go beyond the predetermined age of our life on earth. People really need to be careful what they put in their body else they create something that makes their bodies worse than what they hope to make better.

[Lucius]

Be aware of the buzzwords little grasshopper. Life extension, blockchain, fund,... Red alerts flashing all over.

It seems to me that someone here just wants to sell as many tokens as possible, all with the help of the promise that people will soon be able to live at least 120 years - the only question is which people will be able to afford expensive medical treatments to achieve longevity, or all do we know the answer to that question?

In addition, the prolongation of human life does not have many advocates when it comes to the most powerful people in the world - and this is logical given how much damage people do to the planet during their life, which on average lasts much less than 100 years. Furthermore, if you know someone who is at least 90+ years old, ask him if he would like to live another 20-30 years - and I believe most would say no - because can you call life a life when you are an old man who can hardly get up, let alone do something else in life.

[so98nn]

Well the fact that ICH and WHO has made this clear there should not be any research associated with DNA modification or any modification to biological matter which can cause threat to human species makes me think whether this will continue until the end or not.

I know the race to live for longer years (or forever) has been the topic of discussion in the scientific community. I have myself imagined living forever so yeah definitely I would vote up for this.

With technological advancement it’s actually possible.

Read one article in my biotech studies regarding Tortoise genome. They are the living things with life span of more than 3-5 hundred years. The genome sequencing is already established. However it would be tricky to imply the Histone proteins responsible for the increased lifespan into the human genome.

Either you will get teratogenic effects or you succeed.

At the end of we are talking about the Token fundraiser then this project needs to show us all the research approvals.

[el kaka22]

When you see the billion dollar title, you believe that it is a lot of money. To be fair, it is a lot of money for one person, probably a lot for a whole town of people, and it is even a lot for many companies except only a handful of them. However when we are talking about something as grand as "extend human lifespan" it suddenly shudders into a small piece. Every year, medical industry around the world spends billions upon billions just to save life, all these new medical stuff that allows us to beat sicknesses that we used to die from, all comes from medical spending like this.

It is still great of course, it is better than nothing, but do not expect 1 billion dollar fund to suddenly change anything, nor make a big dent in medical world, it would be nice of course, but not world changing. Hopefully as the time goes, we will find more and more cures and tools that will help with them.

[coupable]

In my opinion, the main problem for such a great project is the technology adoption itself ; i don't guess patients to share sensitive data about their health statu usngb a technology that they didn't even hear about, and this is the same problem with healthcare institutions (technology adoption). From another side, after the global pandemic, people become more aware of how their data is used including online use, so i don't think it will be that easy to convince them that their data will be protected using something called "Blokchain".

So while I'd love to be wrong and this project just go on and get to results, I see it as a money hog, using blockchain unnecessarily to just over-complicate things.

When to know that about 9$ billion was invested in cybersecurity in 2021, which is higher than what was invested last year, while the cyber crimes don't even decrease, i sadly agree with your point.

[dothebeats]

I don't think this will gain traction at all. First off, they will have problems sourcing patients who are willing to give their medical info to a team that is relatively unknown, and just came up with this 'bright idea' which a lot of research institutions and governments have been doing for hundreds of years. Second, experimentation on the human genome is still strictly prohibited, and is frowned upon by the scientific community as it is also similar to 'playing god' since you're directly tapping into Man's genetic code. Remember He Jiankui?

While research re: genetics, epigenetics, and the molecular biology involved in human longevity is really vital for our survival as a species, there should be a limit to which these researches are applied to. VitaDAO, while in itself is a noble gesture with good intentions, might not be up to the task. Billions are poured yearly on biomedical research, with only a handful of breakthroughs for the last decade. I'm not so sure about $1 billion being enough to produce something that will greatly contribute to the topic of 'human longevity' at all.

[stompix]

Be aware of the buzzwords little grasshopper. Life extension, blockchain, fund,... Red alerts flashing all over.

Token, dao, invest, ...no! This is not about the human lifespan this is about making money.
The usual simple questions, why would you need a token, why would you need a blockchain for this?

So, why the blockchain and how would that improve thins?
A blockchain is a database, nothing more, you have one blockchain copy and that is altered you can kiss it goodbye, you have a  private blockchain distributed over 100 private nodes again, the ones that write data on it could easily write a second copy and replace it at will anytime.
You go public with them your risk a Sybil attack.
There are tons of distributed databases with checkpoints that offer far more scalable solutions and are far easier to implement than blockchain solutions, what do you think all the systems in the world run on? A single database copy? Look what many companies have used for years to store large amounts of data.

LE, not making another post, but since I saw ICO mentioned again and again after my message:
Holly**, there is a website that classifies tokens by their utility, healthcare, sports, arts, energy
https://cryptoslate.com/cryptos/healthcare/

And look what the leading healthcare token price looks like:

remind me of a cardiogram....

[The Sceptical Chymist]

I don't understand exactly what this quote is talking about, and I'm at least semi-literate in the language of medicine (although nearly completely illiterate in that of computer science).  That 80% of data generated by the average hospital lacks structure how?  And what about the structure makes that data inaccessible to researchers?

The other question I have is that most data from clinical hospitals isn't used for any research purposes--it's used for patient care, insurance issues, and covering the medical staff's asses.

Healthcare data is immense and creates challenges in centralization and security. On average, a hospital produces 760 terabytes of data every year. However, 80% of the data lacks structure and is inaccessible to researchers, according to an article by Garri Zmudze from Longevity Science Foundation.

The need for security and reoccurring consent of the data usage prevents progress for medical research. With the help of blockchain and AI, patient consent can be easily obtained, data can be unlocked for analysis, and its usage can be transparent.

If anyone can explain to me like I'm a 5-year old what the above words mean, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Ways this project is related to blockchain & crypto.

1.  A crypto coin is used to raise funds in an effort to fund the project
2.  Token holders vote to determine how funding and resources are allocated
3.  Blockchain is used to protect the integrity of medical data
4.  It is claimed their blockchain design protects privacy and data of patients

Hmm....sounds like a typical ICO scam project.  My gut feeling is that blockchain technology isn't going to be the method by which human life is prolonged to 120 years or so.  I'm not even sure it has any use in the medical field whatsoever.  There were a few ICO projects focusing on medicine, and none of them went anywhere as far as I know.  

I'd love to see all of those things described in the opening paragraph come to fruition, but this project?  Eh, I don't know.

Token, dao, invest, ...no! This is not about the human lifespan this is about making money.

This is another one of those threads where I posted before reading the comments, but now that I have read them I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this thing is a load of unholy horse shit.

[Coin_trader]

Here we go again. A too good to be true project aiming for  ground breaking goal that asking for billion dollar fund from the public. I saw many startup project like this(in same manner) last 2017 ICO then disappear after a few years with zero progress. They can slowly discontinue the project by using there ToS just like what happened to Airfox.

I will be happy if this project become successful but this current epidemic that burns billion dollars for research of vaccine is just a proof that human can't control lifespan easily. Maybe a cure for cancer is much appreciated rather than genetic engineering.

[Ucy]

Well the fact that ICH and WHO has made this clear there should not be any research associated with DNA modification or any modification to biological matter which can cause threat to human species makes me think whether this will continue until the end or not.  

It's not possible to entend life beyond what has been predetermined by the CREATOR. I guess the ancients like the Pharoahs thought thesame but were decieved.
In a typical setting where people are decieved, the humans will be guaranteed they will live very long or forever on earth but when they die, they are probably replaced with their digital copies or familiar spirits, then societies where those people are from begin to think/believe they heard from their ancestors or saw them when actually what they saw are not their ancestors but familiar spirits or digital holograms, assuming the technology becomes possible.

[Wind_FURY]

It looks to me like a private blockchain. And if it's private, a database may be much better suited.

If I'm wrong and it's not a private blockchain, then what would be the incentives for nodes and miners to store and protect this data?

Also if it's public blockchain, people may try to get access to protected data, from medical data to people's personal info.
And I don't really see the medical and pharmaceutic industries be just nice and share tremendous amounts of information "for the common good".


So while I'd love to be wrong and this project just go on and get to results, I see it as a money hog, using blockchain unnecessarily to just over-complicate things.

Because if their developers don’t use “a blockchain” or what they call “blockchain technology”, how would they issue their own shittokens to “private investors”, and for those investors to “sell” them to the people, scamming them?  

[NeuroticFish]

Because if their developers don’t use “a blockchain” or what they call “blockchain technology”, how would they issue their own shittokens to “private investors”, and for those investors to “sell” them to the people, scamming them?  

Tokens were existing - in a way or another - even before blockchain.
And they can be issued and used easily even with a normal DB.
Of course, they become suddenly top technology if blockchain buzz word is used

[Lucius]

The usual simple questions, why would you need a token, why would you need a blockchain for this?

If memory serves you, you may remember that OP is quite fascinated by the idea that everything (or most things) in the world can be solved by inventing a token for each individual problem - world hunger = food token, drinking water problem = water token...

I may be wrong, but is there any such project at all that has successfully solved a problem, even at the local level? All I can say about medicine is that there are a lot of hypocrites out there who claim to work for the good of humanity, but the best and most effective medicaments are only available to the rich who can pay for them.

The average Joe may never get a chance to live 120 years thanks to some research, and I honestly don’t understand why people are so obsessed with living so long - we better focus on how to enable all people to have at least one meal every day, and medicine for diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and diseases that have almost disappeared in developed countries and still take a lot of lives in developing countries.

[Hydrogen]

....


I'll try to explain. Why I think this research could have potential.

Everyone knows identical twins have identical DNA and are clones of each other, as far as genetics go.

But can anyone explain how one identical twin might develop an illness like cancer, while the other identical twin does not?

The answer comes down to epigenetics:

The second way is by exploiting some of the features of blockchain technology such as security and storage of data, which is most relevant to the application of personalised or precision medicine whereby patient information such as genetics, blood profile data, microbiome assessments, epigenetic methylation, and sleep data could be transacted and analysed without risk of the patient data getting into the “wrong hands” and being exploited.

Epigenetic research is neglected and underfunded atm. Any research done in this area, has potential to greatly expand the knowledge base of modern medicine.

....

Another angle:

Fecal transplantation (poop transplant intended to grant people a healthier gastrointestinal micro biome) is a procedure which is gaining prominence atm:

The second way is by exploiting some of the features of blockchain technology such as security and storage of data, which is most relevant to the application of personalised or precision medicine whereby patient information such as genetics, blood profile data, microbiome assessments, epigenetic methylation, and sleep data could be transacted and analysed without risk of the patient data getting into the “wrong hands” and being exploited.

Human microbiome research is yet another neglected and underfunded area of modern medicine.

We know that the microbiome has underestimated effects on health and longevity. Unfortunately, there has not been enough research done in this area for us to have good data on it.

....