It’s possible that cat memes and fetish pornography may someday, indirectly, give us an extra five or so years of life. That’s because search giant Google (now under its Alphabet umbrella) is investing huge sums in Calico, a division dedicated to life extension. The ridiculous 2013 Time cover story “Can Google Solve Death?” was insanely hyperbolic, but the company’s more modest actual goals would be remarkable if achieved. 

In a Re/code piece, Mark Bergen takes a look at the secretive subdivision. An excerpt:

It is evident that Levinson’s secretive company is focused on medical solutions that fend off the illnesses that come with old age; it’s not trying to give us immortality.

Calico has announced six partnerships for research and drug development, linking arms with two universities, a nonprofit, a pharmaceutical company (AbbVie) and the genealogical data firm Ancestry. Like Verily, Alphabet’s other health unit, Calico seems to be operating as a high-tech research and development lab, creating medical products that its pharma partners will take to market.

So, one day you may be able to buy a pill that extends your life, dreamed up in a lab funded by a search engine. When and how those drugs will arrive — or be priced — remains unclear.

Unlike Verily, which is focused on various diseases, Calico has a singular mission: Extending life. Currently, the company has several research teams each experimenting with different avenues of longevity research, according to people who are as familiar with its operations as outsiders can be.

And unlike Verily, Calico has not plunged into Google proper to fill its roster.•