Mark Zuckerberg, accompanied by his wife Priscilla Chan, pledged three billion dollars on Wednesday to fund medical research over the next decade. The couple stated at the initiative’s launch in San Francisco that their ultimate goal is to “cure, prevent, or manage all diseases by the end of the century.”
“We want to dramatically improve every life in the Max generation and ensure that no soul is left behind,” Chan said, referring to their daughter Maxima, born last December. “We will invest in fundamental scientific research aimed at curing disease.”
The Facebook founder expressed hope during the lecture that the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative would extend the average lifespan of generations being born today to 100 years. “That doesn’t mean that no one will ever get sick,” he said. “But we should be able to cure and manage every disease.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKt8XUYqRjw
Two projects were announced at the independent research center “Chan Zuckerberg Biohub” in San Francisco. The first is the creation of a “Cell Atlas,” a map describing different types of cells responsible for controlling major body organs, and the second is the “Infectious Disease Initiative,” which aims to develop and test new vaccines for HIV, Ebola, Zika, and other emerging diseases.
Zuckerberg stated that today, 50 times more money is spent on treatment than on eliminating the causes of diseases, and that this needs to change.
