7-year-old and 68-year-old age swap? 'Nature' 17 years of research: 'exchange blood can prolong life' is confirmed again
Since ancient times, those who have achieved outstanding achievements in their lives will inevitably have the urge to "borrow another five hundred years from the sky". In ancient times, Qin Shi Huang sent Xu Fu to Penglai Island just to seek a "fairy recipe"; Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty devoted himself to researching the method of alchemy for many years; Alexander the Great expanded his empire to the Eurasian region, looking for the legendary Fountain of Youth, which can bring people back to youth, but the more eager he was, the sooner he went.
With the rapid development of the times and entering the 21st century, the international current affairs journal "Time" bluntly stated on its cover: The generation after 00 will be able to live to 142 years old! This is not a fantasy. There is almost nothing "impossible" at the moment when the life sciences are erupting like a blowout. Alexander and others never imagined that the so-called "fountain of youth" may have been found by modern scientists, or even "close at hand" ", several studies have shown that the "swap" of young blood and old people can make old cells regain their youthful state.
Pandora's Box opened? Young blood sold at 54,000/liter
As early as 2005, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, first unveiled the mystery of the "exchange blood" test. Professor Irina Conboy and her research team divided a group of novice mice into a young group and an old group, and then divided them. The vascular circulatory system was sutured, and a "different age allogeneic symbiosis" model was constructed to realize the intercommunication of blood. Due to the existence of blood relationship, the two mice did not appear immune rejection.
As the delivery time increased, the researchers were surprised to find that the external signs of the mice seemed to be "exchanged". The hair of the old mice gradually became smoother and the mobility became more agile, while the hair of the young mice became dry and the movements became more and more sluggish. Waiting for signs, once the result was released, it soon attracted the attention of countless capitals. Ambrosia biotechnology company even publicly sold young blood with a price tag of up to 54,000 RMB/liter. There are still countless celebrities and rich people who want to become "novices" even if they subsidize money. mouse".
Science or Science Fiction? 7-year-old and 68-year-old swap age
In order to reveal more possibilities of exchange transfusion therapy, Irina Conboy's team decided to do the opposite this time. Today, 17 years later, they have brought a major new achievement, which was confirmed by rebuilding the "alien allogeneic symbiosis" model. : The blood of old mice can accelerate the aging of tissues and cells of young mice, and the research content was published in the sub-journal of "Nature".
In the experiment, the researchers extracted about 8% of the whole body blood of an old mouse (equivalent to 68 years old in humans), and then transferred it to another young mouse (equivalent to 7 years old in humans), two Weeks later, it was observed that the young mice developed aging symptoms such as slowed running speed, impaired liver and kidney function, and skeletal muscle relaxation, which was consistent with the previous results of blood replacement experiments in young mice.
One stone has stirred up a thousand waves, and many scientists have gradually developed a strong interest in the method of exchange transfusion, and have started to discuss it one after another. Looking at the current major academic publications, reports on "exchange therapy" are blooming everywhere, and many private private enterprises have also started one after another. Regarding the application of this therapy, there are also rumors that Peter Thiel, the "Godfather of Venture Capital" in Silicon Valley, spends tens of thousands of dollars every quarter to buy young blood from an 18-year-old soldier. " as a prototype to join the plot.
Want to sign up for a blood change? Wait a minute, this matter needs to be discussed in the long run
Although many studies have proven that exchange transfusion therapy does have certain results, which makes multi-millionaires willing to become the "novice mice" of the experiment, no matter it is considered the technical level, or after the application, there may be rejection and concurrent problems. All are still facing huge challenges and risks, and the US FDA has also banned such private attempts. In contrast, some people prefer scientific interventions.
For the same purpose of "slowing down aging", different from the madness of exchange transfusion therapy, Professor David Sinclair from Harvard Medical School proposed a new idea: after 22-month-old old mice were given Wright's predecessor for a week, the "energy factory" in their bodies. "The function of mitochondria was reversed to the physical level of about 6 months, which is equivalent to a 60-year-old man's physical state returning to the level of 20 years old.
After many experiments, David found that the reason is that Wright substances can continue to supply energy to damaged cells in the body, so that they can also obtain similar benefits of "reversing the clock of life". Subsequently, the substances were also included in Europe, America, Japan and other countries. Medical research projects, and biotechnology companies such as "Boos" have successfully introduced Wright to domestic platforms such as QD and a cat, which is obviously milder and easier to accept than "exchange". A lot of curious early adopters of the elderly group.
Originally, time should be regarded as the only fair resource in the world, and no one can have "privilege", but with the advent of a series of studies involving science and ethics such as exchange blood therapy, some people can't help but ask: Will the world get better and better? With the development of biological sciences, the thickness of the wallet of the rich also determines the length of life to a certain extent. Some scholars believe that even if the technology becomes popular in the future, I am afraid that only those who stand at the top of the pyramid will be able to enjoy the dividend.
The emergence of every new thing requires matching rules and regulations to open up a bright road for the development of related technologies. This is also another social problem that more people are worried about: allowing young blood to be sold 54,000 If the exchange transfusion therapy per liter is deregulated, will blood become a "commodity" for the human body in the future? Even the poor become the "medicine fields" of the rich, so that wealth is concentrated over a long period of time, resulting in the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer?