This week, our guest on the podcast is Mark Kotter, founder of clock.bio.
clock.bio, a sister company to bit.bio, which Kotter also founded and is the CEO of, aims to extend and improve quality of life by reversing the harmful effects of time in our cells, harnessing the regenerative capabilities of human pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs).
These human pluripotent stem cells have the ability not only to stay young but also to undergo rejuvenation when forced to age.
Clock.bio’s approach is to harness this power of ‘resetting the clock’ in hiPSCs to identify new approaches to treating age-related diseases. It has developed an aging model that ‘force ages’ hiPSCs and triggers their self-rejuvenation mechanism. Unbiased CRISPR screens on large samples of these stem cells allows for the identification of gene candidates that are causally relevant for cell rejuvenation.
This enables a decoding of rejuvenation biology and corresponding IP; the resulting knowledge will be used to create novel treatment approaches.
The company’s mission is to extend health span by 20 years based on biomarkers of aging in a phase 3 trial by the end of this decade.
Clock.bio recently published a white paper for rejuvenation therapies and a blueprint for clock.bio.