Washington: A Silicon Valley entrepreneur has launched a $1 million prize for the scientists to find the elixir of life that can extend life beyond age 120 - the theoretical maximum human lifespan.
As of today, 15 scientific teams are already on the job to find the elusive fountain of youth.
According to hedge fund manager Joon Yun, the chance of dying between ages 25 and 26 is only 0.1 percent.
He now wants scientists to "hack the code of life" and make that percent consistent across the ages, the Guardian reported.
To encourage scientists, Yun has set up the $1 million "Palo Alto Longevity Prize" to anyone who can extend the life span in mice up to 50 percent in the first place.
Once the initial goal of 50 percent increase in life expectancy is achieved, Yun plans to offer more money for feats above and beyond until longevity is no longer an "issue."
For this, Yun has a team of nearly 50 advisers, including scientists from some of America's top universities, for help.
The quest for an eternal life is not new.
In 2013, Google launched California Life Company (Calico) whose mission is to reverse engineer the biology that controls lifespan and "devise interventions that enable people to lead longer and healthier lives".
In 2014, US biologist and technologist Craig Venter and the founder of the X Prize Foundation, Peter Diamandis, announced a new company called Human Longevity Inc.
It aims to create a database of 1 million human genome sequences by 2020 that will give key information for a longer, healthier life.
