5 ms·

How come none of the wealthy has tried the trick of getting blood transfusions from young people? That seemed to have a lot of hype behind it not too long ago.

seizethecheese 10y ago
Peter Thiel is doing this.
- echelon 10y ago
  Really? Is there a citation for this? Is it something he's continuing to do?
  - mikeyouse 10y ago
    He obviously doesn't talk about it because it's super weird and vampire like, but Inc. did an interesting story about it last spring. I don't know that there's proof that he's doing it per se, but strong evidence in that direction. The evidence: 1. There's a pharma / plasma company in Monterey named Ambrosia. [1] 2. Ambrosia is running a study titled "Young Donor Plasma Transfusion and Age-Related Biomarkers" [2] 3. This study is patient funded, participants volunteered and pay $8k to recevie regular infusions of plasma from donors <25 years old. 4. Ambrosia didn't advertise or fundraise beyond seeking patients. 5. Ambrosia's CEO received a call from Jason Camm, an 'Angel Investor' at Thiel Capital who was interested in learning about what the company was doing. 6. Jason Camm isn't actually an investor, he's Peter Thiel's "Personal Health Director". His professional profile claims that he "Enables his clients to make radical breakthroughs in their immediate day-to-day health, cognitive functioning and physical performance -- all of which increase their prospects for Optimal Health and significant Lifespan Extension." 7. A year before the Inc. article, Thiel brought up parabiosis unprompted to a journalist but didn't think there was much of a business case for it, just a personal-health impact. [1] - http://www.ambrosiatrial.com/ http://www.ambrosiatrial.com/ [2] - https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02803554?term=young+plasma&rank=2 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02803554?term=young+p... All sourced from this Inc. article: http://www.inc.com/jeff-bercovici/peter-thiel-young-blood.html http://www.inc.com/jeff-bercovici/peter-thiel-young-blood.ht...
- jacquesm 10y ago
  How many levels of disgusting can you check at once? Is there any proof for this?
bertiewhykovich 10y ago
It's well-proven in mice but the quantities of blood needed are gargantuan and make a transfusion-based approach extremely difficult. The most effective mouse models have used parabiosis -- not a palatable or moral technique for humans. However, there's ongoing research to isolate and synthesize the chemical factors responsible for the effect -- which may provide a viable therapy. (Source: my girlfriend worked in a lab studying young blood.)

seizethecheese 10y ago

Peter Thiel is doing this.

echelon 10y ago
Really? Is there a citation for this? Is it something he's continuing to do?
- mikeyouse 10y ago
  He obviously doesn't talk about it because it's super weird and vampire like, but Inc. did an interesting story about it last spring. I don't know that there's proof that he's doing it per se, but strong evidence in that direction. The evidence: 1. There's a pharma / plasma company in Monterey named Ambrosia. [1] 2. Ambrosia is running a study titled "Young Donor Plasma Transfusion and Age-Related Biomarkers" [2] 3. This study is patient funded, participants volunteered and pay $8k to recevie regular infusions of plasma from donors <25 years old. 4. Ambrosia didn't advertise or fundraise beyond seeking patients. 5. Ambrosia's CEO received a call from Jason Camm, an 'Angel Investor' at Thiel Capital who was interested in learning about what the company was doing. 6. Jason Camm isn't actually an investor, he's Peter Thiel's "Personal Health Director". His professional profile claims that he "Enables his clients to make radical breakthroughs in their immediate day-to-day health, cognitive functioning and physical performance -- all of which increase their prospects for Optimal Health and significant Lifespan Extension." 7. A year before the Inc. article, Thiel brought up parabiosis unprompted to a journalist but didn't think there was much of a business case for it, just a personal-health impact. [1] - http://www.ambrosiatrial.com/ http://www.ambrosiatrial.com/ [2] - https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02803554?term=young+plasma&rank=2 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02803554?term=young+p... All sourced from this Inc. article: http://www.inc.com/jeff-bercovici/peter-thiel-young-blood.html http://www.inc.com/jeff-bercovici/peter-thiel-young-blood.ht...
jacquesm 10y ago
How many levels of disgusting can you check at once? Is there any proof for this?

bertiewhykovich 10y ago

It's well-proven in mice but the quantities of blood needed are gargantuan and make a transfusion-based approach extremely difficult. The most effective mouse models have used parabiosis -- not a palatable or moral technique for humans. However, there's ongoing research to isolate and synthesize the chemical factors responsible for the effect -- which may provide a viable therapy. (Source: my girlfriend worked in a lab studying young blood.)