Facebook co-founder, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Pricilla are lending a huge amount of their fortune to help extend human life through the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences.
The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, a $3 million reward, is being sponsored by a group of popular tech sensations, such as Zuckerberg himself, to help 11 different scientists in their efforts to cure complex diseases which could help extend the lives of many people. The couple teams up with other philanthropists such as Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder, and his wife Anne, along with Yuri Milner, as the founding sponsors of the non-profit foundation to help fund scientists in finding cures for certain diseases.
"Our society needs more heroes who are scientists, researchers, and engineers," Says Zuckerberg on a status update on Facebook. "We need to celebrate and reward the people who cure diseases, expand our understanding of humanity, and work to improve people's lives."
An inaugural event, hosted by the University of California, was held yesterday to award the first 11 winners who are to receive $3 million prize each. The recipients are: Titia de Lange, Eric S. Lander, Charles L. Sawyers, Bert Vogelstein, Robert A. Weinberg, and Shinya Yamanaka, Lewis C. Cantley, Hans Clevers, Napoleone Ferrara, Cornelia I. Bargmann, and David Botstein.
Zuckerberg added that he is hopeful that this new foundation would serve as a blueprint for prizes and philanthropy in other fields.
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