Humans could live until they're 500, according to one Google Ventures executive who believes we already have the technology in development to boost life expectancy.
Bill Maris, an executive at Google's VC business, Google Ventures, said people are already looking at solutions that could allow us to live longer than anyone ever imagined would be possible.
Maris said: "If you ask me today, is it possible to live to be 500? The answer is yes. Twenty years ago, without genomics, you could only treat cancer with a poison. That's really different from, We can cure your cancer by reverse-engineering a stem cell.' You can now legitimately invest in a company that could cure cancer."
Maris explained that Google Ventures is already investing in biotech and healthcare companies including Flatiron Health, which is developing a cloud-based platform for cancer data and Foundation Medicine, which uses genetic information to make cancer care a more personalised experience.
"We actually have the tools in the life sciences to achieve anything that you have the audacity to envision. I just hope to live long enough not to die."
Google launched Google Ventures in 2009. Since then, it has invested in more than 280 startups in a range of industries. Every year, Google is given $300 million to invest in new and exciting companies, with 2015 the year he will get an additional $125 million to invest in ventures outside the US.
Previous investments in the tech space include renting NASA's Moffett Federal Airfield for "research, development, assembly and testing in areas of space exploration, aviation, rover/robotics and other emerging technologies," and robotics startup Savioke.
