5 ms·

So how can I, as a software developer, meaningfully contribute to this area? I would very much prefer to live forever.

Dig1t 5y ago
I guess you could dive into the world of home-brew biohacking? Understanding genetics and lab techniques doesn't seem out of reach for programmer types, but I don't really know.
- SuoDuanDao 5y ago
  I tried it (shoutout to The Odin's biohacking courses!) but I found it requires a lot more manual skills than I was used to from programming. Not out of reach but quite different, the most similar existing skill for me was actually cooking. Though I never made it past beginner stage, so take my experience for what it's worth.
forgotmyoldacc 5y ago
You could gain computational biology experience from working at biotech until you have enough to work at one of these longevity startups.
- justsocrateasin 5y ago
  This is exactly what I'm doing - working at a bioinformatics startup as a SDE, and slowly picking up comp bio projects.
patall 5y ago
Bioinformatics is a huge field and a lot of software developers are working there. It's science with multi-year career paths, so you cannot just start working on everything without learning the basics first. But with a bit of training, many former software developers have contributed as lab techs, PhD students or other types of associates.
SuoDuanDao 5y ago
most leading biohackers have a patreon or subscribestar page where you could help fund their research, that might be a start.
solveit 5y ago
Competitive advantage says that in the vast majority of cases you should do more or less what you're doing now, perhaps adjust your behaviour to optimise for compensation, and spend/donate money to have more biologists work on this. This is very general advice for anyone with a cause that they would like to get done without regard to who does it.
- Kinrany 5y ago
  It's only true when money is the bottleneck.
  - solveit 5y ago
    It's true as long as you personally are not particularly suited to widen the bottleneck. Which is most of the time. In this particular case, it's very unlikely a typical dev would contribute more by taking a few years off to learn biology and maths and statistics, instead of just making money and paying someone who has already spent that time.
- grishka 5y ago
  No, money is not the answer and just paying money is just plain boring. Especially when guys like Bezos have already put $3B into this. My donations would be a drop in the ocean. I want to do something meaningful myself.
smnrchrds 5y ago
In an ideal world, biology salaries would be on par with tech salaries, so more intelligent ambitious young people will pursue education and careers in biology.
- grishka 5y ago
  I'm personally not driven by money and never was. First and foremost I would like to make the world a better place.

I guess you could dive into the world of home-brew biohacking? Understanding genetics and lab techniques doesn't seem out of reach for programmer types, but I don't really know.

SuoDuanDao 5y ago
I tried it (shoutout to The Odin's biohacking courses!) but I found it requires a lot more manual skills than I was used to from programming. Not out of reach but quite different, the most similar existing skill for me was actually cooking. Though I never made it past beginner stage, so take my experience for what it's worth.

forgotmyoldacc 5y ago

You could gain computational biology experience from working at biotech until you have enough to work at one of these longevity startups.

justsocrateasin 5y ago
This is exactly what I'm doing - working at a bioinformatics startup as a SDE, and slowly picking up comp bio projects.

patall 5y ago

Bioinformatics is a huge field and a lot of software developers are working there. It's science with multi-year career paths, so you cannot just start working on everything without learning the basics first. But with a bit of training, many former software developers have contributed as lab techs, PhD students or other types of associates.

SuoDuanDao 5y ago

most leading biohackers have a patreon or subscribestar page where you could help fund their research, that might be a start.

solveit 5y ago

Competitive advantage says that in the vast majority of cases you should do more or less what you're doing now, perhaps adjust your behaviour to optimise for compensation, and spend/donate money to have more biologists work on this. This is very general advice for anyone with a cause that they would like to get done without regard to who does it.

Kinrany 5y ago
It's only true when money is the bottleneck.
- solveit 5y ago
  It's true as long as you personally are not particularly suited to widen the bottleneck. Which is most of the time. In this particular case, it's very unlikely a typical dev would contribute more by taking a few years off to learn biology and maths and statistics, instead of just making money and paying someone who has already spent that time.
grishka 5y ago
No, money is not the answer and just paying money is just plain boring. Especially when guys like Bezos have already put $3B into this. My donations would be a drop in the ocean. I want to do something meaningful myself.

smnrchrds 5y ago

In an ideal world, biology salaries would be on par with tech salaries, so more intelligent ambitious young people will pursue education and careers in biology.

grishka 5y ago
I'm personally not driven by money and never was. First and foremost I would like to make the world a better place.