> “I’m looking into parabiosis stuff,” Thiel told Bercovici, “where they [injected] the young blood into older mice and they found that had a massive rejuvenating effect. … I think there are a lot of these things that have been strangely underexplored.”
There's evidence of GDF11 transplants (through blood in this case) that certain stem cells become active again and can affect longevity. Its not necessarily crazy science, its well established in mice models. If that effect is transferable to humans and if its a strong is the big question.
Well, the article also quotes someone saying the aging reversal so far has seemed to be permanent, somehow "resetting gene expression". if it works more than the one time, potential immortality?
Well if this Nietzschean quest for superman immortality doesn't work out, I recommend reading some Sufi poetry to help come to terms with the passing of time. Future generations will just have to find other exemplars of libertarian smugness to look up to.
Having no way of their own to biologically reproduce (yet), it is in the interest of queer rights that our most successful individuals (especially entrenched non-liberals such as Thiel) remain in the flesh and kicking for as long as possible; the sexually conservative majority tends to reproduce faster than us, liberals aren't making any babies, and the populations growing the fastest in the world have a history of anti-queer violence.
This seems like a Thiel hit piece. Calling him obsessed is a bit much. How about all the people who eat right, are active, don't smoke, etc? We're all interested in longevity and health on some level. We know guys like Brin are deeper in the longevity hole, to the point of talking about sci-fi nuttiness like brain uploads and such. We also know that many celebrities do things like HGH injections.
Then quoting Gawker as a reliable source for an outrageous rumor with zero proof just tops it off. Clearly, Gawker is not going gently into that good night.
A non-hyserical article about possible longevity solutions championed by the SV wealthy here:
She found that a protein called GDF11, common in the blood of young mice but sparse in the systems of the older rodents, caused much of the old mice’s "reverse aging." In the bloodstream, GDF11 is responsible for keeping stem cells active; when GDF11 levels drop, as they do with age, stem cells (which are responsible for tissue renewal) falter, injuries heal more slowly and aging begins to take hold. But even in very elderly bodies with very little GDF11 inside them, those stem cells never go away—they merely become dormant as GDF11 levels drop. Injecting young blood, with its high levels of GDF11, into old mice seemed to restart those dormant stem cells, causing the old mice to "age in reverse" as they produced the healthy, vital tissues associated with youth. The work is “incredibly promising,” says Collins.
Did you read the wikipedia article you linked? The wikipedia article is referencing blood transfusion and replacement as it relates to athletic ability, not prolonged life or aging reversal.
[+] [-] travisby|9 years ago|reply
> Thinks... blood can keep him young forever
Now that's some extrapolation!
[+] [-] drzaiusapelord|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gingerrr|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] g8oz|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] olewhalehunter|9 years ago|reply
>Future generations
yeah, those people
[+] [-] DKnoll|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rohunati|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] drzaiusapelord|9 years ago|reply
Then quoting Gawker as a reliable source for an outrageous rumor with zero proof just tops it off. Clearly, Gawker is not going gently into that good night.
A non-hyserical article about possible longevity solutions championed by the SV wealthy here:
http://www.newsweek.com/2015/03/13/silicon-valley-trying-mak...
The article also explains the blood issue:
She found that a protein called GDF11, common in the blood of young mice but sparse in the systems of the older rodents, caused much of the old mice’s "reverse aging." In the bloodstream, GDF11 is responsible for keeping stem cells active; when GDF11 levels drop, as they do with age, stem cells (which are responsible for tissue renewal) falter, injuries heal more slowly and aging begins to take hold. But even in very elderly bodies with very little GDF11 inside them, those stem cells never go away—they merely become dormant as GDF11 levels drop. Injecting young blood, with its high levels of GDF11, into old mice seemed to restart those dormant stem cells, causing the old mice to "age in reverse" as they produced the healthy, vital tissues associated with youth. The work is “incredibly promising,” says Collins.
[+] [-] getpost|9 years ago|reply
And anyway, of course it's a hit piece! The vampire metaphor is just too juicy.
[+] [-] k__|9 years ago|reply
Doesn't he also take HGH? Sounds like a rather obsessed person to me...
[+] [-] kaonashi|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] cylinder|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] magic_beans|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dschiptsov|9 years ago|reply
Also this idea is a hundreds years old, and has been known even by ancient Chinese.
This is, probably, is the treatment for Castro and others. If one has no serious chronic diseases it will do.
[+] [-] brador|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] clifanatic|9 years ago|reply
It was the plot of the Mad Max remake, too.
[+] [-] amai|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alexbanks|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ilostmykeys|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Pica_soO|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ilostmykeys|9 years ago|reply