Studies show that young blood could reverse aging
Thinkstock
Two studies published on Sunday show that blood from young mice reversed aging in old mice, rejuvenating both their muscles and their brains, The New York Times reports.
Dr. Saul Villeda at the University of California, San Francisco, and his colleagues discovered that after young mice and old mice were stitched together at their flanks and their blood was flowing through each other, the old mice formed several new neurons in the hippocampus region of the brain, an important area for imprinting memories. The scientists also removed cells and platelets from the blood of young mice and injected the remaining plasma into old mice, which helped the older rodents perform better on memory tests.
Over at Harvard University, Dr. Amy J. Wagers and her team found that when old mice were joined together with young mice, more blood vessels grew in the brain of the old mice, leading to the creation of more neurons that gave the old mice a better sense of smell. During an earlier study, Wagers and her colleagues had discovered that GDF11, a protein, was plentiful in young mice and scarce in old mice, and could rejuvenate heart tissue when injected into older mice.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This time around, Wagers and her colleagues injected GDF11 into the old mice (not joined to younger mice) and found that it also spurred the growth of blood vessels and neurons in the brain, as well as — in a separate new study — stem cells in the aging muscles, increasing the strength and endurance of older mice.
Taken together, the separate research could eventually lead to treatments for human heart disease and degenerative brain disorders like Alzheimer's, among other Fountain of Youth remedies. "There's no conflict between the groups, which is heartening," Dr. Richard M. Ransohoff, director of the Neuroinflammation Research Center at the Cleveland Clinic, told The New York Times.
The idea of being able to rejuvenate body parts this way is exciting, but scientists also warn that stem cells could multiply uncontrollably, leading to cancer. Villeda's team published its findings in the journal Nature Medicine, while Wagers' studies came out in Science.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Magazine interactive crossword - April 26, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - April 26, 2024
By The Week US Published
-
Magazine solutions - April 26, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - April 26, 2024
By The Week US Published
-
Magazine printables - April 26, 2024
Puzzles and Quizzes Issue - April 26, 2024
By The Week US Published
-
Blind people will listen to next week's total eclipse
Speed Read While they can't see the event, they can hear it with a device that translates the sky's brightness into music
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Melting polar ice is messing with global timekeeping
Speed Read Ice loss caused by climate change is slowing the Earth's rotation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
An amphibian that produces milk?
speed read Caecilians, worm-like amphibians that live underground, produce a milk-like substance for their hatchlings
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Jupiter's Europa has less oxygen than hoped
speed read Scientists say this makes it less likely that Jupiter's moon harbors life
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Why February 29 is a leap day
Speed Read It all started with Julius Caesar
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
US spacecraft nearing first private lunar landing
Speed Read If touchdown is successful, it will be the first U.S. mission to the moon since 1972
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Scientists create 'meaty' rice for eco-friendly protein
Speed Read Korean scientists have invented a new hybrid food, consisting of beef muscle and fat cells grown inside grains of rice
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New images reveal Neptune and Uranus in different colours than originally thought
Speed Read Voyager 2 images from the 1980s led to 'modern misconception'
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published