Recently， BGI CEO Yin Ye was a guest on Phoenix’s “Cover” program to engage in a profound discussion on topics related to human lifespan. His remarks on the program， such as “human lifespan will extend to 150 years” and “the post-2000 generation are all centenarians， with no upper limit，” have sparked widespread debate.
In conjunction with these discussions， media outlets have resurfaced a video of Yin Ye expressing his views from earlier years. In this video， Yin Ye stated， “The greatest failure of medical research is that it has been developed but is not accessible to everyone.”
During the interview， Yin Ye candidly shared his perspective: the most significant failure in the realm of medical research is not the inability to achieve research breakthroughs， but rather the prohibitive cost of these advancements， rendering them unaffordable for the general public. He reflected further， contemplating， “Regarding this issue， I am pondering whether we can significantly reduce related costs， for instance， to within 100，000 yuan?”
Yin Ye emphasized that medical research should strive for cost reduction to the extreme. The core objective， he believes， is not rapid profitability， but rather the aspiration that when a new technology emerges， it should be affordable and accessible to everyone， benefiting even individuals in the most remote and impoverished regions.
He expressed his hope that precision medicine can truly achieve universal accessibility and widespread benefit. This highlights a critical challenge in the medical field: the gap between innovation and equitable access.
Notably， during the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions (Summer Davos) this year， Yin Ye also shared his distinctive insights on the popularization and equitable access to medical technologies.
Yin Ye posits that while advanced medical technologies are initially adopted by those with financial means， there is a natural progression towards broader accessibility and affordability. He explained this phenomenon through the economic concept of the “spillover effect.” His reasoning is that if the affluent are not allowed to be early adopters， then the less fortunate may never have the opportunity to benefit from these innovations.
He concluded that all technologies follow this path toward equitable distribution. Therefore， he stressed the importance for everyone to prepare for an era of extended lifespans， acknowledging the societal and economic implications that arise from this demographic shift and the need for proactive planning.
