Google recently revealed Calico, a new medical venture aimed at tackling issues of aging and death.

  Technology giant and pioneer Google has recently announced that they were investing a large section of their resources into a new medical company, Calico, whose goal is to fight aging, and to eventually “solve death”. However far fetched this goal may seem, the technology being investigated is in demand by a market that is growing larger by the second. With the quality and length of life becoming better and larger than ever, demographics are shifting dramatically. In areas of high recent economic growth such as Hong Kong, the percentage of the population over the age of 65 is 14%, and is expected to reach 40% in 2050. While efforts have been made by the Hong Kong government with success to improve their health care to accommodate the aging population, less developed countries such as China, with their one-child policy, are struggling to keep up. With the one child policy, demographers are seeing what they are describing as the 4:2:1 problem, where for each person of working age, there are two aging parents and four dependant seniors. Google’s developments in this field will hopefully mean better technology in helping aging citizens stay healthy and productive for longer than ever.

Sources: http://www.forbes.com/sites/benjaminshobert/2013/10/03/todays-best-business-opportunity-global-aging/

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/03/tech/innovation/google-calico-aging-death/index.html?hpt=hp_c3