Pura Muñoz, biologist: "We can reverse aging"

Altos Labs, a multinational company with a massive budget of $3 billion, was founded in 2022 with an ambitious goal: to extend human healthspan.
The company's team includes hundreds of the world's top scientists, among them several Nobel laureates, some of whom receive exceptionally high annual salaries.

Professor Pura Muñoz, a Spanish biologist and winner of Spain's National Research Award, joined the company towards the end of 2022.
Until then, she worked as a professor at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, where she uncovered mechanisms related to muscle aging and regeneration.
In her lab, Prof. Muñoz developed strategies that successfully repaired muscle tissue in old mice, enhanced cellular self-cleaning (autophagy), and eliminated damaged cells. Her work in this field was published in the journal Nature (Garcia-Prat et al., 2016).

At Altos Labs, Prof. Muñoz and her colleagues focus on a new approach: instead of repairing damage, they aim to rejuvenate the human body.
To this end, the research team uses a unique chemical "cocktail" known as "Yamanaka factors," named after the Japanese researcher Shinya Yamanaka.
Shinya Yamanaka won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2012 and is also one of the stars recruited for the mission by Altos Labs.
The Yamanaka factors consist of four molecules and are known for their ability to reprogram an adult cell and return it to an embryonic state, allowing it to become any other type of cell.

Experiments in mice have shown promising results: in a leading study in the field (Ocampo et al., Cell journal, 2016), cyclic treatment with Yamanaka factors in mice with a model of progeria (accelerated aging) extended their lifespan by about 30% and improved tissue regeneration processes in their bodies. It is important to note that these were mice that aged unnaturally quickly, not normal mice, so direct conclusions about human lifespan cannot be drawn.

The Altos Labs team believes that this innovative approach may lead to a significant breakthrough in the field of anti-aging, and result in extending the healthy lifespan of humans.

Additional data:

• Altos Labs has raised approximately $3 billion to date from private investors, including billionaire Yuri Milner and Jeff Bezos.
• The company employs hundreds of scientists, including several Nobel laureates.
• Altos Labs operates in several research institutes: in California (the San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego) in the United States, and in Cambridge, UK, along with scientific collaborations in Japan. Prof. Muñoz belongs to the institute in San Diego.
• The company focuses on a variety of studies in the anti-aging field, including:
  • Cell reprogramming
  • Treatment of aging factors
  • Development of innovative drugs

The future:

Altos Labs is just one of several major companies focusing on the field of reverse aging.
This field has seen significant growth in recent years, and it can be expected that innovative and exciting technologies will be developed in the coming years.

References:
https://www.altoslabs.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altos_Labs