Google's Calico company unveils website devoted to human life extension

Google's new company aimed at addressing problems of health and aging has taken a step forward -- with its own website and mission statement.

"We're tackling aging, one of life's greatest mysteries," says the website of Calico LLC, a project announced last September by Google chief executive Larry Page.

"Calico is a research and development company whose mission is to harness advanced technologies to increase our understanding of the biology that controls lifespan. We will use that knowledge to devise interventions that enable people to lead longer and healthier lives."

As previously announced, the head of the company is Arthur Levinson, who was chief executive officer of Genentech from 1995 to 2009 and is now the chairman of the board of Apple.

The other members of the team, which had not been previously announced, include Hall Barron former chief medical officer of pharmaceutical group Hoffmann-La Roche; David Botstein, a Princeton University genomics professor; and Cynthia Kenyon, a researcher in biology and genetics who comes from the University of California at San Francisco.

The team also includes former Genentech oncology researcher Robert Cohen and Jonathan Lewis, an executive from Brussels-based UCB Pharma.

"We are scientists from the fields of medicine, drug development, molecular biology, and genetics," the website said.

"Through our research we're aiming to devise interventions that slow aging and counteract age?related diseases."

Announcing the new investment last year, Page said: "Illness and aging affect all our families. With some longer term, moonshot thinking around healthcare and biotechnology, I believe we can improve millions of lives."

News of the website was reported Monday by SFGate, which is part of the San Francisco Chronicle.