Scientists are researching the controversial possibility that blood products from young people might be used by older people to reverse the aging process. That’s according to Newsweek.
What was once considered fanciful fiction, fodder for horror stories, or the stuff of conspiracy theorists, is now a part of modern science, says the report.
An emerging area of study called “geroscience” reportedly “seeks to understand molecular and cellular mechanisms that make aging a major risk factor and driver of common chronic conditions and diseases of older adulthood”. Its goal is to “hack the process of aging itself and, in the process, delay or stave off the onset of many of the diseases most associated with growing old”, says Newsweek.
One large biotech firm, Grifols, is said to be responsible for at least six “phase 2” trials completed or underway to treat a wide range of age-related diseases, including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, using blood or blood products extracted from youthful donors.
There is currently no FDA-approved drug that targets the aging process itself, rather than a specific disease.
The Newsweek report states that there have been promising results in studies where old rodents were injected with young rodents’ blood.
If scientists are ultimately successful in “hacking aging” with the use of “young blood,” it will could pose serious ethical questions.
The story has sparked discussion over longstanding rumors of an illicit black market for trafficked children’s blood.
Click on the link below to read the Newsweek story:
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