"But he has also seen public funding of aging research, never particularly robust, become even scarcer." It seems like this part, at the end of the article, mi

"But he has also seen public funding of aging research, never particularly robust, become even scarcer." It seems like this part, at the end of the article, might explain while Guarante is risking his reputation with Elysium. In the absence of public funding, his only options are to depend on the largess of billionaires like Thiel, or form a business and try to retain enough control to set the research agenda. I suspect Elysium will end-up with a breach between him and his business partners, much like his previous company. There's a basic incompatibility: Actual anti-aging research is expensive, and won't deliver practical results for decades (if ever), while actual profits in anti-aging come from selling regulation-skirting supplements that almost certainly don't work. Since there's no actual reliance from the profit-making part of the business on the research department, the suits will see it is a large and unnecessary cost, sooner or later. The presence of Guarente and his peers provide a necessary veneer of respectability right now, as they're establishing themselves in the market, and guarantee publicity like this article that it would never otherwise receive. But once they're established, I'm guessing they'll decide they can do without the scientists and the research, and Guarente will be looking for another source of funding once again.