Injecting Teenage Blood Keeps Aging At Bay, Research Suggests

In the early 1600s, a Hungarian Countess by the name of Elizabeth Báthory had numerous young women butchered in order to bathe in their blood. She believed that doing so would keep her young and beautiful. As a result, she was largely thought of as a lunatic and a serial killer. Now, scientists have discovered that Countess Báthory might have been onto something. Thanks to the results of experiments involving injecting old mice with the blood of young humans, the key to the Fountain of Youth might lie in the actual essence of the young.

The mice were basically injected with plasma that was derived from the blood of younger subjects, New Scientist reports, which resulted in what appears to be restorative effects on the elderly mice.  The scientists who made the discovery were part of a team under the Alkahest company. One of the researchers behind the study is Sakura Minami, and she told the publication that the effects are undeniable.

"We see a rejuvenation effect," Minami said. "Young human plasma improves cognition. Their memory was preserved."

Among the benefits include improved brain function, physical motion and reactions, and even a boost in memory. With the chemical composition of the brains of mice being so close to that of humans, this poses a huge potential benefit for patients suffering from degenerative neurological and biological diseases.

Some of the conditions that could be addressed if the results of the experiment are properly applied to humans are Alzheimer’s, ALS, or just plain old aging. Depending on just how far scientist takes this breakthrough, it might actually be possible to stop the aging process altogether, or at least significantly slow it down.

As Science Alert puts it, however, the whole concept does have a rather macabre air about it. It’s basically taking the life essence of the young in order keep the elderly in fine form, which is something that’s only been seen in movies, books, or TV shows.