Live·Open questions in longevity research

Direction

Replacing cells and organs

Cell therapy, tissue engineering, bioprinting and xenotransplantation

Side by side

The rated projects, compared

ProjectPromised effectEvidenceStageStrongest case against
Wearable regenerative bioreactor for controlled wound healing+0.3 years of life43 / 100This is a proof-of-concept stage academic project, not a clinical program.The main risk is that the concept is mechanistically appealing but biologically weak in mammals: sealing the wound and adding short-term cues may not produce meaningful regenerative benefit beyond standard dressings or local drug delivery, while introducing added complexity around sterility, attachment, tolerability, and animal-to-animal variability.
Frontier Bio+1.5 years of life42 / 100Status appears preclinical and early commercial rather than clinically de-risked.The strongest bear case is that the project is long on vision and short on independently verified evidence.
Kind Bio+15 years of life28 / 100Status is preclinical and highly unvalidated in the provided evidence.The project may be much easier to describe than to make real.

Companies

Companies in this direction

Ambition is what a company claims. Independent replication is what others have confirmed. Read the two columns together: the gap between them is where a promise runs ahead of a result.

CompanyAmbitionIndependent replicationStageHeadquarters
Aelan Cell Technologies
Aelan researches, discovers, develops, and commercializes biomedical technologies for human health and longevity.
73San Francisco, California, United States
Aspen Neuroscience
Aspen develops iPSC-derived autologous cell replacement therapies for Parkinson’s disease and other high-unmet-need CNS disorders.
72series c plusSan Diego, California, United States
BE Therapeutics
BE Therapeutics develops stem cell-derived replacement brain and spinal cord tissue to reverse CNS damage.
90United States
Betalin Therapeutics
Betalin is developing a stem-cell based micro-pancreas intended to reduce diabetic patients’ dependence on daily insulin.
72Jerusalem, Israel
Blue Rock Therapeutics (owned by Bayer)
BlueRock is a clinical-stage cell therapy company investigating replacement of cells damaged or lost to disease.
74Boston, Massachusetts, United States; New York City, New York, United States; Toronto, Canada
Cellino
Cellino develops AI-driven optical bioprocesses for personalized regenerative medicine and patient-specific living medicines.
75United States
cellvie
cellvie develops Therapeutic Mitochondria Transplantation medicines targeting cellular energy metabolism and mitochondria-linked disease processes.
83Switzerland
Celularity
Celularity develops and commercializes placenta-derived biomaterials and allogeneic cryopreserved cell therapies for age-related diseases.
63publicNew York City, New York, United States
eGenesis
eGenesis advances human-compatible organs for patients with organ failure using genome engineering and transplantation.
86series c plusUnited States
FibroBiologics
FibroBiologics develops fibroblast cell-based therapies and fibroblast-derived treatments for chronic diseases.
72publicHouston, Texas, United States
Frontier Bio
Frontier Bio creates tissue-engineered blood vessels and human-based tissue models for vascular grafts and preclinical testing.
72
Gameto
Gameto develops cell-engineering technologies for reproductive health, including IVF, egg freezing, ovarian disease, and menopause.
80United States
HepaTx
HepaTx develops off-the-shelf stem cell-based regenerative therapies for late-stage liver disease as an alternative to liver transplant.
72Palo Alto, California, United States
HexemBio
HexemBio is developing scalable rejuvenated hematopoietic stem cell therapy to reverse aging-related decline in blood stem cells.
81seedNew York City, New York, United States
Immorta Bio
Immorta Bio develops longevity therapeutics to reverse aging, eliminate cancer, and rejuvenate organs.
82Aventura, Florida, United States
Lineage Cell Therapeutics
Lineage is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing off-the-shelf allogeneic cell therapies for serious medical conditions.
82publicSan Diego, California, United States
Lionheart Health, Inc.
Leonhardt Ventures develops regenerative medtech innovations focused on bioelectrics and biologics for healthspan, longevity, and healing.
82Leonhardt’s Launchpads by Cal-X Stars Business Accelerator, Inc. @ University Lab Partners UCI Cove, 5270 California Avenue, Irvine, CA 92617
Longeveron Inc
Longeveron develops cell-based regenerative therapies for life-threatening and chronic aging-related conditions.
74publicMiami
Luca Science
Pre-clinical biotechnology company developing functional mitochondria as therapeutic agents to treat damaged tissues and organs.
83Tokyo, Japan
LyGenesis
LyGenesis develops cell therapies that use lymph nodes as bioreactors to grow functioning ectopic organs.
81Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Medipost
MEDIPOST develops stem cell therapeutics, regenerative medicine products, cord blood banking services, CDMO services, and nutritional supplements.
75publicSouth Korea; Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Micregen
Micregen develops cell-free stem cell-derived secretome therapeutics for degenerative and underdevelopment conditions.
71Reading, United Kingdom
Minovia
Minovia develops mitochondria-based therapies using mitochondrial transplantation for diseases linked to mitochondrial dysfunction.
83
Muse Cell Innovations
Muse Cell Innovations licenses Dezawa MuseCells, MuseSecretomes, and MuseExosomes for regenerative medicine, longevity, aesthetics, orthopedics, and related applications.
62Singapore
NeuroNascent Inc (NNI)
NeuroNascent develops oral small-molecule neuron regenerative therapies for chronic neurological disorders including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and developmental delay.
83Clarksville, Maryland, United States
Regeneration Biomedical
Regeneration Biomedical develops Wnt-activated autologous stem cell therapies for neurodegenerative diseases.
80Newport Beach, California, United States
Rejenevie Therapeutics
Rejenevie Therapeutics develops immune restoration treatments targeting age-related diseases using stem cell restoration and parabiosis-inspired cell culture technology.
83Houston, Texas, United States
Sana Biotechnology
Sana creates engineered cells as medicines to repair and control genes or replace missing or damaged cells.
85publicSeattle, Washington, United States; Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States; South San Francisco, California, United States
Thymmune Therapeutics
Thymmune develops a machine learning-driven thymic cell engineering platform to restore immune function in aging and disease.
81seedUnited States
Tolerance Bio
Tolerance Bio develops thymus-based therapies to preserve, restore, and manipulate immune tolerance for increased healthspan.
81seedSan Diego, California, United States
Treefrog Therapeutics
TreeFrog Therapeutics develops iPS-derived regenerative cell therapies using its proprietary C-Stem biomimetic technology platform.
73France

Projects

Projects in this direction

ProjectScienceBreakthroughInvestment case
Frontier Bio
Frontier Bio is a U.S. tissue-engineering startup pursuing two linked product lines: a patient-seeded, bioresorbable vascular graft intended for implantation and remodeling into a living blood vessel, and human tissue models such as lung and blood-brain-barrier/neural systems for preclinical testing. The central promise is plausible in concept and supported by repeated, fairly consistent company and interview claims, some partnership signals, and early preclinical/research-use positioning, but the evidence here is still weak on independent validation: most sources are company-controlled, interview-based, press-style, or investor-marketing materials, and the excerpts do not provide robust methods, sample sizes, peer-reviewed outcomes, or clinical data.
466253
Kind Bio
Kind Bio is a U.S. startup pursuing an "integrated organ network" platform: genetically engineered animal systems designed to grow transplantable peripheral organs while lacking higher CNS function and a normal body plan. The core promise is abundant organ supply for transplantation and, longer term, multi-organ replacement for age-related decline. The evidence is still early and mostly self-described or patent-based; there is no peer-reviewed demonstration here of functional human-ready organs, clinical efficacy, or scalable manufacturing.
387841
Wearable regenerative bioreactor for controlled wound healing
BioDome-R is an early-stage academic proof-of-concept for a small wearable regenerative bioreactor that creates a sealed local wound microenvironment and delivers short-term pro-regenerative cues in small-animal models. The strongest support in the provided evidence is not clinical efficacy but plausibility: related literature supports the relevance of mechanochemical control, wearable hydrogel patches, and flexible wound bioelectronics, while the project-specific evidence shows a concrete preclinical plan, explicit safety endpoints, and a narrow immediate goal of testing feasibility, tolerability, and biological response rather than claiming regeneration or translation.
504033

People

People in this direction

  1. George Churchscientist · through GC Therapeutics

    Led and founded major synthetic biology and genomics efforts with public work on aging reversal, gene therapy, and longevity biotechnology companies including Rejuvenate Bio.

  2. Shinya Yamanakascientist · through FibroBiologics
  3. Jim Mellonentrepreneur · through LyGenesis

    Co-founded Juvenescence and publicly framed longevity as an investable biotechnology thesis through the book Juvenescence and substantial company-building activity.

  4. Jean Hébertscientist · through BE Therapeutics

    Whole-brain emulation researcher.

  5. Peter Diamandisentrepreneur · through Celularity

Chronology

What happened, and when

  1. May 15, 2026Funding roundSana Biotechnology

    post ipo · $69M

  2. Apr 13, 2026Funding roundSana Biotechnology

    strategic · $25M · Mayo Clinic

  3. Jan 8, 2026Funding roundNeuroNascent Inc (NNI)

    grant · $1M · Alzheimer's Association Part the Cloud

  4. Nov 20, 2025Funding roundAspen Neuroscience

    series c · $115M · OrbiMed, ARCH Venture Partners

  5. Aug 27, 2025Funding roundMinovia

    grant · $350K · Countdown for a Cure Foundation

  6. Oct 16, 2024Funding roundTolerance Bio

    seed · $20.2M

  7. Sep 4, 2024Funding roundeGenesis

    series d · $191M · Lux Capital

  8. Feb 9, 2024Funding roundLineage Cell Therapeutics

    post ipo · $14M

  9. Oct 4, 2023Funding roundMedipost

    grant · Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy

  10. Aug 22, 2023Funding roundNeuroNascent Inc (NNI)

    grant · National Institute on Aging

  11. Mar 1, 2023Funding roundThymmune Therapeutics

    seed · $7M

  12. Feb 24, 2023Funding roundBE Therapeutics

    seed · $100K · VitaDAO

  13. Mar 2, 2021Funding roundeGenesis

    series c · $125M

  14. Nov 7, 2019Funding roundeGenesis

    series b · $100M · Fresenius Medical Care Ventures

  15. Mar 16, 2017Funding roundeGenesis

    series a · $38M · Biomatics Capital, ARCH Venture Partners

  16. Apr 6, 2015Funding roundNeuroNascent Inc (NNI)

    other · $1.2M

Forecasts

What the forecasts expect here

  1. In which year will it become possible to keep a mammalian head alive outside the body for at least 1 hour?14% yesby Nov 1, 2026
  2. Will 'Replacing' (organ and cell replacement therapies) generate $1 billion by 30 July 2027?50% yesby Nov 1, 2026