The Million Molecule Challenge

$ 30,000incentive

A collaborative initiative with Ora Biomedical to accelerate the discovery of novel longevity interventions in C. elegans.

Propose novel combinations of interventions aimed at significantly extending the lifespan of C. elegans. We will sponsor 100 proposed experiments, and you will win a prize if your intervention extends lifespan the most among the proposed experiments.

Notable advancements have been achieved in the field of longevity research, yet many aspects remain to be explored. To address this unexplored “dark matter” of longevity, Ora Biomedical has developed new technology that allows for quantitative assessment of lifespan and healthspan at a scale far greater than previously possible. The WormBot-AI is an automated platform that integrates high-throughput robotics with advanced AI analysis to study longevity in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Given its short lifespan and well-understood genetics, C. elegans serves as a robust model for aging research, accelerating progress towards identifying interventions for extending human lifespan.

The team at Ora has proposed an ambitious Million Molecule Challenge that seeks to measure the effects of a million unique interventions on longevity in C. elegans. This project will increase total knowledge of longevity interventions by at least two orders of magnitude and undoubtedly yield many novel targets for dramatically impacting lifespan.

The Million Molecule Challenge: Longevity Prize is designed to incentivize and nurture pioneering methods that set the stage for remarkable extensions in life and healthspan initially within C. elegans and ultimately in humans.

Submmit your experiment ideas here.

Submit your project

Objectives

To identify novel interventions or combinations thereof that extend the population lifespan of C. elegans measured by largest change in median lifespan relative to experiment-matched controls.
To incentivize creativity and innovation by encouraging the submission of novel compounds, combinations, and molecular classes.
To facilitate collaborative science by enabling contributors to co-own data and share their findings with a global audience through an open access longevity interventions database.

Prize Structure

The total prize pool for the challenge is $30,000. The prize will be awarded to the three individuals or teams with the most successful interventions, as determined by the degree of lifespan extension achieved.

Distribution:

$25,000 will be allocated for the experimental costs of testing up to 100 submissions.
$5,000 will be allocated to prizes, divided into three sums: $2.5K for the 1st place, $1.5K for 2nd, $1K for 3rd.
All results from the submissions will be published along with reasoning and applicant name, unless the applicant chooses to opt out of this option.

Application Process

Proposal Submission Overview:

Proposal Requirements: Applicants submit brief hypotheses (max 100 words) on their compound or combination's efficacy.

Selection Mechanism:

The first 100 applications with legitimate reasoning will automatically go through for testing.
The molecules need to be available in the library of compounds available in the application form.
Only untested compounds in the field of aging biology will be considered as we are looking to explore the “dark matter” of longevity. If the compound proposed has any published results on aging related studies, it will be disqualified.
Only 2-way combination therapies permitted. A compound here might be known, but the combination needs to be novel.
The submission limitation is up to 3 applications per person/team. The caveat is that only 1 of those can be on a compound expected to affect an already known hallmark of aging. The other 2 applications are bonus submissions for entirely novel and uncharted mechanisms.
All 100 submissions will be tested and the winners will be determined by experimental results only.
Self-Sponsorship Option: Participants can sponsor their own compounds at a discount, while still qualifying for the final prize.
Only untested compounds in the field of aging biology will be considered as we are looking to explore the “dark matter” of longevity. If the compound proposed has any published results on aging related studies, it will be disqualified.

Selection for Testing (if needed):

Promising proposals for new molecular classes will be selected for testing by a jury and funded by VitaDAO/the Longevity Prize in collaboration with Ora Biomedical's state-of-the-art technology.

Result Analysis:

Ora Biomedical will carry out the experiments, and the outcomes will be evaluated based on the degree of lifespan extension achieved (largest change in median lifespan from a population pooled from three independent drug-treated populations and compared to an experiment-matched, pooled control population).

Awarding the Prize:

The three individuals or teams with the most successful interventions will be awarded the following prizes.

First place: $2.5k
Second place: $1.5k
Third place: $1k

Winner announcement:

Ideally, the announcement would be made at a longevity conference. Potentially GRC or ARDD if we’re aiming for summer 2024. We can announce the second round of the C elegans lifespan prize during the announcement of the winners of the first round.

Guidelines

Proposals should be based on well-researched hypotheses.
The proposed compounds or combinations must not have been previously tested or be under consideration by Ora Biomedical.
Proposers are encouraged to explain the novelty and potential impact of their approach.
Collaboration is encouraged, and teams are welcome to apply.

Leaderboard

A competitive edge is introduced by allowing sponsors to compete against peers on the Longevity Leaderboards.

Open Science Contribution

We encourage participants to deposit their sponsored intervention data into a public longevity database, such as the Longevity Genes Database. This will make the data freely available to the global research community and accelerate the development of new longevity interventions.

Apply

Please use this form to submit an application for this prize.