Mark Zuckerberg funds scientists, experiments to cure all diseases

There’s no question that tech mogul and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is one generous man.

After amassing massive amounts of wealth through his social network innovation, the 32-year-old billionaire shared his overly ambitious—and seemingly impossible—plan to one day treat and cure all diseases known to man.

Zuckerberg’s initiative seems to have taken a step further on Thursday, as reports surfaced that he has shelled out a substantial amount to dozens of scientists over the next five years, to turn his vision into reality.

Along with the aid of his wife Priscilla Chan, the couple’s Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) launched a $3 billion cheque book, in an aim “cure all disease by the end of the twenty-first century.”


According to Business Insider,  the generous stipend will be used in long-term scientific research that wouldn’t necessarily pay off straight away.

Apart from the initial donation, the CZI subgroup Chan Zuckerberg Biohub also announced an additional $50 million in funding to selected researchers.

Out of the 700 researchers who applied for the funding, 47 scientists will receive approximately $1.5 million each to carry out the necessary experiments for the next five years.

Among the primary objectives include the imaging cells, developing biochip technologies and studying the transmission of malaria, through the help of three universities—Berkley, University of Central Florida and Stanford.

“Our three university partners provide the very backbone of Biohub’s work,” the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub said in a release.

“Our investigators come from these outstanding research institutions, and their faculty will be an integral part of our day-to-day operations here at Biohub.”

The medical research organization also assured everyone that the fund will not go to waste and be given to the most qualified researchers.

“We are conducting research that helps solve big health problems. We find and support the best and brightest biologists, scientists, engineers and technologists,” the group said.

“Our culture emphasizes intellectual freedom and collaboration. We provide our team with the best scientific tools—and when the right tools don’t exist, we will invent them.”

Biohub co-president Joseph DeRisi, meanwhile, praised the Zuckerberg couple’s hands-on approach towards finding a cure to mankind’s most dreaded illnesses.

“Both Mark and Priscilla are avid consumers of science,” he was quoted as saying in the report. “They enjoy learning new things and knowing what the cutting edge of research is all about.”

source: technology.inquirer.net

Zuckerberg fund pledges $3 billion to banish disease

SAN FRANCISCO, United States – Mark Zuckerberg and his wife on Wednesday pledged $3 billion over the next decade to help banish or manage all disease, pouring some of the Facebook founder’s fortune into innovative research.

“This is a big goal,” Zuckerberg said at a San Francisco event announcing the effort of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative established by the couple.

“But we spent the last few years speaking with experts who think it is possible, so we dug in.”

Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, had their daughter Max late last year. Shortly after, they pledged to donate 99 percent of their Facebook holdings or some $45 billion to “advance human potential and promote equality.”

At Wednesday’s event, Zuckerberg said their goal is to cure all disease, or at least turn catastrophic illnesses from terminal to manageable or preventable within their daughter’s lifetime.

While the funding effort is for the next decade, Zuckerberg and his wife said they hope to achieve their objective of by the end of this century.

Chan, fighting back tears at times, said that curing all disease within Max’s lifetime will not mean children won’t ever get sick, but it would happen less often and be less severe.

New tools for researchers
The first investment being made as part of what the Zuckerbergs hoped would become a “collective” effort will be $600 million for the creation of a Biohub in San Francisco where researchers, scientists and others will work to build tools to better study and understand diseases.

“Throughout the history of science, most breakthroughs have been preceded by the invention of some new technology that lets you see things in new ways,” Zuckerberg said, mentioning the microscope and DNA sequencing as examples.

“Tools also create breakthroughs in how we treat diseases.”

The Biohub will bring together engineers and scientists from three prestigious California universities to help the effort.

“We plan to invest billions of dollars over decades,” Zuckerberg said.

“But, it will take years for these tools to be built and longer to put them into full use. This is hard and we need to be patient, but it’s important.”

Renowned neuroscientist Cori Bargmann of Rockefeller University and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute was brought on to lead the project.

Zuckerberg took an engineering approach to the challenge, reasoning that there were a handful of big health culprits including cancer and neurological disease so it was “pretty easy” to imagine what types of tools are needed.

He spoke of the potential to put artificial intelligence to work imaging brains or having machine learning tackling analysis of genomes.

Zuckerberg and Chan also hoped that their project would power a movement to fund more medical research around the world.

Taking part in the event on Wednesday was Microsoft billionaire turned global philanthropist Bill Gates, who has made improving health around the world a top goal at the foundation he created with his wife.

Gates praised Zuckerberg and Chan for taking on a “very bold, very ambitious” challenge.

“I have no doubt they will make progress,” Gates said.

“Mark and Priscilla, they are inspiring a whole new generation of philanthropists who will do amazing things.”

Priscilla Chan, a pediatrician, stood by her husband as she assured the gathering, which included prominent medical researchers and local politicians, that her “heart is full of hope” and that all involved were eager to get started.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Offline: Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg chats with Pope Francis

The Pope didn’t need to log in to his Facebook account.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, together with his wife, Priscilla Chan, met with Pope Francis in his home in Vatican City.

“It was a meeting we’ll never forget. You can feel his warmth and kindness, and how deeply he cares about helping people,” Zuckerberg told his followers on Facebook.

“We told him how much we admire his message of mercy and tenderness, and how he’s found new ways to communicate with people of every faith around the world,” he said.

Vatican spokesman Greg Burke says one topic of discussion at Monday’s meeting was “how to use communication technologies to alleviate poverty, encourage a culture of encounter, and make a message of hope arrive, especially to those most in need.”

Francis received a drone model from the “honored” couple, and was told of the couple’s works at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative which was launched in December 2015.

Aquila, a solar-powered aircraft that will beam internet connectivity to places with no internet connection, is part of Facebook’s efforts to bridge the digital divide.

“We also discussed the importance of connecting people, especially in parts of the world without internet access,” he said.

The social networking giant runs Free Basics, a platform for delivering basic information and services to developing economies like the Philippines.

The meeting with the pontiff was part of Zuckerberg and Chan’s tour of the quake-struck Italy.

The atmosphere appeared informal, with the chat taking place in the Santa Marta residence, the guest house in Vatican City where the Pope lives.

Zuckerberg ditched his regular gray shirt and suited up for the occasion.

The couple also met with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and appeared in a Q&A session in Rome, which was streamed on Facebook Live. With a report from the Associated Press

source: technology.inquirer.net