Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has far greater ambitions beyond connecting all citizens of the world with the internet. He and his wife wanted to take part to eliminate the disease from the face of the earth, not later than the end of this century.
Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan committed to contribute US $ 3 billion (Rp 39 trillion) in the next 10 years to accelerate scientific research base.
The use of the aid intended to create a measuring tool of research, ranging from software and hardware, and techniques have not been found, so that one day will find major breakthroughs, such as the invention of the microscope and the DNA chain in previous generations.
The target is to "cure, prevent, or solve all the ills" in about 80 years into the future.
The billionaire pair realized that their ambitions sound crazy, but given the discovery of the world of medicine and research over the last century, with the absence of a vaccine, statins for heart disease, or chemotherapy, only modest progress has been achieved.
With the current rate of progress, Zuckerberg takes into account not possible to resolve the majority of health problems at the end of this century. In the last two years, he and his wife have had many discussions with scientists and experts.
"It's not something that we just read from the book and suddenly decided what to do," he said in an interview.
Through their own philanthropic organization, The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the couple donated 600 million dollars to fund scientific research and medicine. Last year the couple also donated 99 percent of his fortune to the foundation.
Goals they want to achieve and not just focus on certain diseases, such as bone cancer or Parkinson's disease, but also engaged in basic research. One example, make atlas cells that could be used to identify all the different types of cells in the body. Later, this atlas can be used to develop various types of drugs.
Chan profession as a pediatrician seem to have great impact on the couple's decision to choose the field of medical research.
"I was with many families often face limitations in terms of treatment. I also often had to tell the family the news hard, as their child diagnosed with leukemia or we can not help," said Chan shared his experience.
Zuckerberg and Chan's hope their efforts can inspire a lot of people so that more collaboration in science, medicine, and technology.
"We spent 50 in health expenditures to treat sick people than we used to study the disease and its prevention," said Zuckerberg.
The couple who recently had a son named Max was often compared to Bill and Melinda Gates, whose philanthropy they also focused on health and education.
Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan committed to contribute US $ 3 billion (Rp 39 trillion) in the next 10 years to accelerate scientific research base.
The use of the aid intended to create a measuring tool of research, ranging from software and hardware, and techniques have not been found, so that one day will find major breakthroughs, such as the invention of the microscope and the DNA chain in previous generations.
The target is to "cure, prevent, or solve all the ills" in about 80 years into the future.
The billionaire pair realized that their ambitions sound crazy, but given the discovery of the world of medicine and research over the last century, with the absence of a vaccine, statins for heart disease, or chemotherapy, only modest progress has been achieved.
With the current rate of progress, Zuckerberg takes into account not possible to resolve the majority of health problems at the end of this century. In the last two years, he and his wife have had many discussions with scientists and experts.
"It's not something that we just read from the book and suddenly decided what to do," he said in an interview.
Through their own philanthropic organization, The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the couple donated 600 million dollars to fund scientific research and medicine. Last year the couple also donated 99 percent of his fortune to the foundation.
Goals they want to achieve and not just focus on certain diseases, such as bone cancer or Parkinson's disease, but also engaged in basic research. One example, make atlas cells that could be used to identify all the different types of cells in the body. Later, this atlas can be used to develop various types of drugs.
Chan profession as a pediatrician seem to have great impact on the couple's decision to choose the field of medical research.
"I was with many families often face limitations in terms of treatment. I also often had to tell the family the news hard, as their child diagnosed with leukemia or we can not help," said Chan shared his experience.
Zuckerberg and Chan's hope their efforts can inspire a lot of people so that more collaboration in science, medicine, and technology.
"We spent 50 in health expenditures to treat sick people than we used to study the disease and its prevention," said Zuckerberg.
The couple who recently had a son named Max was often compared to Bill and Melinda Gates, whose philanthropy they also focused on health and education.