Mark Zuckerberg and Wife Priscilla Chan Pledge $3 Billion to End Diseases

Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan are one philanthropic couple. The Facebook CEO announced Wednesday that he and his wife will invest $3 billion over the next decade to help scientists cure diseases.

The financial commitment is a part of their Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which seeks to advance human potential and promote equality. "Can we help scientists to cure, prevent or manage all diseases within our children's lifetime? I'm optimistic we can," Zuckerberg wrote on his Facebook page. "Today, just four kinds of diseases cause the majority of deaths. We can make progress on all of them with the right technology."

Zuckerberg went on to announce that they have already taken steps to achieve their goal including recruiting Dr. Cori Bargmann, a world-renowned expert in neuroscience and genetics, to lead the initiative. He also revealed that their first project will be creating the "Biohub," adding, "We're investing $600 million in a new research hub to bring scientists and engineers together from Stanford, UCSF, Berkeley, and the world-class engineering team we're building at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative."

As for why they wanted to take on such a huge task, he explained, "This is about the future we want for our daughter and children everywhere. If there's a chance that we can help cure all diseases in our children's lifetimes, then we will do our part. Together, we have a real shot at leaving the world a better place for our children than we found it."