Monday, May 05, 2014

Harvesting Blood of Children for Fountain of Youth

For those with no hope of life eternal . . .

Media are reporting a study using mice that points to a life-extending process whereby a young human's blood is pumped into, and joined with the blood of an elderly progenitor to reverse the aging process, while the young person's aging is accelerated.

Suggesting again:  Man "creating" life, for the purpose of destroying it, in order to extend the life of another (for a short time).

“Right now we can’t do anything for Alzheimer’s patients, and this [new process] seems so easy and simple.”
-- Tony Wyss-Coray, Stanford neuroscientist and Nature Medicine study author
For background, click headlines below to read previous articles:

Boy 'Created' Artificially to Cure Sister's Disease

Human Embryos Cloned, Killed to Harvest Stem Cells

Court OKs Obama Killing Embryos with Tax Dollars

IVF: 'Creating' Life & Aborting Life

Donor Eggs & IVF 'Creates' Life, but Causes More Death



-- From "New studies show that young blood reverses effects of aging when put into older mice" by Meeri Kim, Washington Post 5/4/14

After combining the blood circulations of two mice by conjoining them — one old, the other young — researchers found dramatic improvements in the older mouse’s muscle and brain. After four weeks, stem cells in both those areas got a boost of activity and were better able to produce neurons and muscle tissue.

But for the young mice, getting old blood was a definite setback. When conjoined to an older mouse, the creation of new cells in the young mouse slowed. Old blood seemed to cause premature aging.

Although initial results seem promising, questions abound. Will it work on humans? What is the proper dosing? Do you need a constant supply of young blood to maintain the effects? Are there long-term consequences?

The studies started with a Frankenstein-like setup called parabiosis. Small flaps of skin from the sides of two genetically identical mice are cut and sewn together. As the wounds heal, their tissue begins to fuse. The mice, now conjoined, share a single blood supply. Pairing old and young mice, or heterochronic parabiosis, has become an unexpectedly insightful tool for age research.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Can Young Blood Reverse Aging in Old Mice?" by John Gever, Deputy Managing Editor, MedPage Today 5/5/14

Two other studies by a different research group, published online in Science to coincide with the blood-transfusion study's appearance in Nature Medicine, suggest that the mysterious [blood] factor could be growth differentiation factor 11 (GDF11), which previously was found to rejuvenate cardiac function in aged mice with heart failure.

These findings in turn build upon earlier experiments -- some by the same group at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., responsible for the new Nature Medicine paper -- involving "heterochronic parabiosis," which connects the vascular systems of young and old mice so that the young animals' blood circulates through the older animals.

The Boston-based group behind the Science papers, led by Richard Lee, MD, and Amy Wagers, PhD, at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, found that injections of recombinant GDF11 increased skeletal muscle growth and neurogenesis, but did not test for effects on cognition. They did, however, examine olfactory function and skeletal muscle strength and endurance.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Young Blood May Hold Key to Reversing Aging" by Carl Zimmer, New York Times 5/4/14

In a study published Sunday in the journal Nature Medicine, Dr. Villeda, now a faculty fellow at the University of California, San Francisco, and his colleagues unveiled more details of what young blood does to the brains of old mice.

After parabiosis, Dr. Villeda and his colleagues found that the neurons in the hippocampus of the old mice sprouted new connections. They then moved beyond parabiosis by removing the cells and platelets from the blood of young mice and injecting the plasma that remained into old mice. That injection caused the old mice to perform far better on memory tests.

“We can turn back the clock instead of slowing the clock down,” said Dr. Toren Finkel, director of the Center for Molecular Medicine at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. “That’s a nice thought if it pans out.”

This reversal could occur throughout the body, the new research suggests. “Instead of taking a drug for your heart and a drug for your muscles and a drug for your brain, maybe you could come up with something that affected them all,” Dr. Wagers said.

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.

From "Young blood (aka ‘vampire therapy’) may slow the process of aging, cure Alzheimer’s disease: scientists" by Sarah Knapton, UK Telegraph 5/5/14

Although both the discoveries were made in mice, researchers are hoping to begin human trials in the next two to three years, in studies that could bring rapid improvements for human longevity and health.

If the same were seem in humans, it could lead to new therapies for recharging our aging brains and novel drugs for treating dementia.

Prof. Lee Rubin, a Harvard stem cell biologist, added: “We do think that, at least in principal, there will be a way to reverse some of the decline of aging with a single protein. It isn’t out of question that GDF11, or a drug developed from it, might be worthwhile in [treating] Alzheimer’s disease.”

To read the entire article above, CLICK HERE.