Google spins out life science division to Alphabet

Google's plan to re-structure (and re-brand) its parent company will impact on its 'pretty far afield' life sciences division Google X

The internet giant recently announced plans to re-brand its parent company with the name Alphabet. This means that the newly 'slimmed down' Google falls under that brand, alongside a host of separate entities.

Included here are its Life Science division and Calico - its project to reverse the ageing process and bring about longer lifespans.

In a Google+ post, Google co-founder Sergey Brin confirmed that Google X leader Andy Conrad will lead as CEO of the company as it spins out from underneath the Google brand, and into Alphabet:

"It’s a huge undertaking, and I am delighted to announce that the life sciences team is now ready to graduate from our X lab and become a standalone Alphabet company, with Andy Conrad as CEO.  While the reporting structure will be different, their goal remains the same. They’ll continue to work with other life sciences companies to move new technologies from early stage R&D to clinical testing—and, hopefully—transform the way we detect, prevent, and manage disease.      

"The team is relatively new but very diverse including software engineers, oncologists, and optics experts.  This is the type of company we hope will thrive as part of Alphabet and I can’t wait to see what they do next.