5 ms·

Billionaire Peter Thiel thinks young people’s blood can keep him young forever

38 points by rock57 10y ago

ilostmykeys 10y ago
Vampire style?
travisby 10y ago
> “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.” > Thinks... blood can keep him young forever Now that's some extrapolation!
- gingerrr 10y ago
  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?
  - dschiptsov 10y ago
    Blood has no access inside cells.) Viruses are using sophisticated machinery to inject pieces of DNA and enzimes into the cell through the membrane. But the immune system probably gets reorganized and refreshed.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- drzaiusapelord 10y ago
  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.
drzaiusapelord 10y ago
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: http://www.newsweek.com/2015/03/13/silicon-valley-trying-make-humans-immortal-and-finding-some-success-311402.html 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 10y ago
  Using an untested procedure for a non-essential health intervention does raise a mental health question, or certainly a question of judgement. And anyway, of course it's a hit piece! The vampire metaphor is just too juicy.
- k__ 10y ago
  > Calling him obsessed is a bit much Doesn't he also take HGH? Sounds like a rather obsessed person to me...
cylinder 10y ago
What's the risk of acquiring infection or other disease from these transfusions?
- magic_beans 10y ago
  That will 100% depend on if the transfused blood contains infection or disease.
dschiptsov 10y ago
There are lots of support from animal model experiments - it prolongs lifespan. 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.
- clifanatic 10y ago
  > this idea is a hundreds years old It was the plot of the Mad Max remake, too.
- brador 10y ago
  You got any links to more info on the ancient Chinese connection? Links or anything to google?
Pica_soO 10y ago
Once you go trump, the social justice goes hump!
kaonashi 10y ago
Peter Thiel, literal vampire.
g8oz 10y ago
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.
- DKnoll 10y ago
  What works of Nietzsche did you read that idealised immortality? The concept of eternal recurrence is almost opposite to the concept of immortality.
- rohunati 10y ago
  Actually, Nietzsche's idea of the Ubermensch is a pretty strong criticism of the fear of death.
- olewhalehunter 10y ago
  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. >Future generations yeah, those people
amai 10y ago
Blood doping works: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_doping https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_doping
- alexbanks 10y ago
  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.
ilostmykeys 10y ago
Someone flagged this? LOL.

38 points by rock57 10y ago

Vampire style?

> “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.” > Thinks... blood can keep him young forever Now that's some extrapolation!

gingerrr 10y ago
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?
- dschiptsov 10y ago
  Blood has no access inside cells.) Viruses are using sophisticated machinery to inject pieces of DNA and enzimes into the cell through the membrane. But the immune system probably gets reorganized and refreshed.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
drzaiusapelord 10y ago
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.

drzaiusapelord 10y ago

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: http://www.newsweek.com/2015/03/13/silicon-valley-trying-make-humans-immortal-and-finding-some-success-311402.html 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 10y ago
Using an untested procedure for a non-essential health intervention does raise a mental health question, or certainly a question of judgement. And anyway, of course it's a hit piece! The vampire metaphor is just too juicy.
k__ 10y ago
> Calling him obsessed is a bit much Doesn't he also take HGH? Sounds like a rather obsessed person to me...

cylinder 10y ago

What's the risk of acquiring infection or other disease from these transfusions?

magic_beans 10y ago
That will 100% depend on if the transfused blood contains infection or disease.

dschiptsov 10y ago

There are lots of support from animal model experiments - it prolongs lifespan. 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.

clifanatic 10y ago
> this idea is a hundreds years old It was the plot of the Mad Max remake, too.
brador 10y ago
You got any links to more info on the ancient Chinese connection? Links or anything to google?

Pica_soO 10y ago

Once you go trump, the social justice goes hump!

kaonashi 10y ago

Peter Thiel, literal vampire.

g8oz 10y ago

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.

DKnoll 10y ago
What works of Nietzsche did you read that idealised immortality? The concept of eternal recurrence is almost opposite to the concept of immortality.
rohunati 10y ago
Actually, Nietzsche's idea of the Ubermensch is a pretty strong criticism of the fear of death.
olewhalehunter 10y ago
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. >Future generations yeah, those people

amai 10y ago

Blood doping works: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_doping https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_doping

alexbanks 10y ago
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.

ilostmykeys 10y ago

Someone flagged this? LOL.