Biotech Startups Are Out for Blood in Their Efforts to Delay Aging

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2021-05-15 01:29:43

Last year, two self-described “biohackers” in Russia had themselves hooked up to blood collection machines that replaced approximately half of the plasma coursing through their veins with salty water. Three days later, the men tested their blood for hormones, fats and other indicators of general well-being. The procedure, it seemed, had improved various aspects of immunity, liver function and cholesterol metabolism.

“The data we obtained demonstrate the potential therapeutic effect of plasma dilution,” the men wrote (in Russian) on their group’s website.

The practice of removing and replacing blood plasma, the yellowish liquid component of blood that carries cells and proteins throughout the body, has a long history in the treatment of autoimmunity. But the aim for the men, both in their fifties, wasn’t about dealing with a disease. Instead, they were self-experimenting with an offbeat proposal for fighting the aging process — the latest in a line of scientific efforts to harness the supposed rejuvenating properties of young blood.

From Greek mythology to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, tales of blood’s restorative powers have captured the human imagination for millennia. But in the past two decades, the idea of blood as an elixir of youth has leapt from the pages of storybooks and ancient folklore into the medical mainstream, with high-profile papers demonstrating the regenerative capacity of young blood in aged mice. Those have also led to the launch of several new biotech start-ups that aim to combat Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, stroke and other diseases of aging by revitalizing our most essential of bodily fluids.