Longevity Research Funding
Biogerontologist Matt Kieberlain wrote that exaggerated claims about life extension may undermine trust in data and complicate funding for aging research. Investor Carl Pfleger suggested testing this connection using historical examples. In a detailed post, Kieberlain links gerontology - the study of aging biology - to two conditions: funding for work and data that colleagues are willing to trust.
To move faster, both resources and quality science are needed, he writes. This year, Kieberlain visited the US Congress offices four times, and in three cases, his interlocutors, who had already heard about aging science, associated it with hype and "snake oil". Before discussing new research, he had to return the conversation to the question of whether the data could be trusted.
Kieberlain sees the historical cause of this concern in Sirtris, a biomedicine company that GSK announced it would acquire in 2008 for $720 million. According to Kieberlain, exaggerated expectations around Sirtris long complicated the flow of resources to aging research. Carl Pfleger, an investor in rejuvenation startups, suggests testing this connection using historical examples, citing the 1970s cancer research as a comparable case.
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Nature
GSK moves on Sirtris
Nature Biotechnology - GSK moves on Sirtris
1August 24, 2026 12
