Calico (company) facts for kids
Calico Life Sciences LLC is a science company in America. It focuses on understanding why living things get older. Their main goal is to find ways to help people live longer and healthier lives. Calico is part of a bigger company called Alphabet Inc.
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | |
| Founded | September 18, 2013 |
| Founder | Arthur D. Levinson |
| Headquarters | U.S,
,
U.S.
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Arthur D. Levinson (CEO) |
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Number of employees
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375 (2025) |
| Parent | Google (2013–2015) Alphabet Inc. (2015–present) |
Contents
History
How Calico Started
Calico, which is short for "California Life Company," was announced on September 18, 2013. It was started by Bill Maris, who used to be the CEO of another company called GV. Larry Page, one of the founders of Google, said that Calico would focus on "health, well-being, and living a long time." In 2015, Calico became part of Alphabet Inc., along with other companies that Google owned.
Important Scientists at Calico
Many smart scientists who study aging have worked at Calico. These include Cynthia Kenyon and Daniel E. Gottschling, who are members of the National Academy of Sciences. Other early team members were geneticist David Botstein and cancer drug developer Robert L. Cohen. Eric Verdin, who is the CEO of The Buck Institute for Research on Aging, also helped Calico as a consultant.
In late 2017 and early 2018, some top scientists left Calico. Hal Barron, who led their research and development, left in December 2017. Daphne Koller, who was in charge of their computer-based biology work, left in March 2018. She wanted to explore new ways to use computer learning for designing medicines.
Partnerships
Working with Other Companies
Calico often works with other companies and research groups. These partnerships help them learn more and develop new ideas faster. They team up with experts to tackle big challenges in health and aging.
Partnership with AbbVie
In September 2014, Calico and a company called AbbVie announced they would work together. They decided to focus on aging and diseases that happen as people get older. This includes problems like brain diseases and cancer. Calico does the early research to find new ideas. AbbVie helps with testing medicines and getting them ready for people to use. So far, these two companies have put more than $1 billion into their shared work.
In October 2023, a science magazine called Nature published some interesting findings. It showed that a new medicine, called ABBV-CLS-484, could help fight cancer in mice. This medicine was developed by AbbVie and Calico together.
Other Important Partnerships
In 2015, Calico started more partnerships. They teamed up with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard to study age-related diseases. They also partnered with the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. Another partnership was with QB3, where they researched the biology of aging and looked for treatments. Calico also worked with AncestryDNA to study how genetics affect how long people live.
See also
In Spanish: Calico (empresa) para niños
- Verily
- Altos Labs
- SENS Research Foundation
- Human Longevity
- Life extension
