Inside Shift Bioscience’s single-gene rejuvenation breakthrough — Exclusive with CEO Daniel Ives

Just about the hottest thing in longevity science right now is partial reprogramming - using Yamanaka factors to rewind the biological clock in our cells. Billion-dollar giants like Altos, Retro and New Limit are betting on it. But in this episode a far smaller player, Shift Bioscience, argues that the field may be looking in the wrong place. CEO Daniel Ives explains how his team used AI-powered virtual cells to uncover a single gene that seems to match OSK-level rejuvenation without the tumor risk that haunts classical reprogramming - and why their just-released data could change the game for aging research. 🔍 In this conversation ✅ Daniel’s journey from mitochondrial PhD work to founding Shift Bioscience. ✅ Why Yamanaka-factor–based partial reprogramming excites the field and why it’s inherently risky. ✅ Epigenetic clocks 101 — Horvath, single-cell versions, and what they really measure. ✅ Building AI “virtual cells” (transformers / GNNs) to run millions of in-silico experiments. ✅ Discovery of new rejuvenation factor sets - including SB000, a lone gene that rejuvenates without inducing pluripotency. ✅ Early wet-lab validation across fibroblasts & keratinocytes; next-step mouse studies already under way. ✅ How inhibition targets (not just over-expression) could slash timelines from 15 years to ~5 years. ✅ Mapping a “risk landscape” of age-linked diseases and why fibrosis may be the fastest clinical entry point. ✅ Funding Shift: from personal redundancy money to a $16 M seed and the next raise. ✅ Timelines, escape-velocity hopes, and where cryonics still fits. ✅ What Daniel would ask Jeff Bezos, and why the pharma ecosystem needs to “plug in” now. 👋🏼 Want to show your support? Subscribe to our channel, hit the notification bell and/or send us a Super Thanks! 👋🏼👋🏼👋🏼 Want to show your support and get some extra perks? Become a member! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQ2g_IsL0inKrkc6omolPdA/join 🚀 Special offer for our LEVITY audience: Join Vitalism today and receive a 30% discount on your membership using the code LEVITY at checkout. https://www.vitalism.io/membership 🚀 Show notes for this episode will be available soon after this airs. Sign up for the LEVITY newsletter to get them straight to your inbox: reachlevity.com 🚀 LEVITY is co-hosted by Patrick Linden, philosopher and author, and Peter Ottsjö, journalist and author. CHAPTERS 00:00 Introduction to Daniel Ives 05:34 The Evolution of Shift's Focus 13:25 Understanding Aging Clocks 19:28 Commercial Clocks is ”Mostly Entertainment” 21:03 A Pivotal Meeting with Steve Horvath 24:35 A Brief Crash Course in Yamanaka Factors 28:16 Finding Something Better Than Yamanaka Factors 33:20 The Origin Story For This Approach 36:50 What Does Shift’s New Results Show? 37:33 Defining the Virtual Cell in This Context 44:22 The Gene is Called SB000 46:45 “This Could be Hugely Important” 01:01:44 Speeding up Drug Development with AI 01:11:12 What do Investors Say? 01:17:15 What Daniel Hope Will Happen Next 01:19:34 What Would Daniel Ask of Jeff Bezos? 01:27:00 Why is the company called Shift? 01:32:55 The Pride Day for Closeted Aging Biologists 01:42:28 How Should We Think About Cryonics?