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Old Stems Cells Young Again — Via Vampirism

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the ecstatic-twilight-fans dept.

pdragon04 writes to tell us that in recent tests a Howard Hughes Medical Institute team has found that through exposure to "young" blood cells, bone marrow stem cells start to act young again as well. "The researchers have not yet isolated the blood-borne factors that can switch old stem cells back to a more youthful state, but their results are consistent with other recent studies that show stem-cell aging may be reversible. Together those results suggest that it might one day be possible to boost the practical lifespan of stem cells, and thereby increase the body’s resistance to disease and age-related degeneration."

15 of 109 comments (clear)

  1. But can you walk out in sunlight afterwards? by gestalt_n_pepper · · Score: 4, Funny

    And do you respect yourself in the morning, um, er evening? Whenever....

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    1. Re:But can you walk out in sunlight afterwards? by mfh · · Score: 5, Informative

      Depends on which vampire you are:
      http://imgur.com/DwTbo.jpg

      --
      The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
  2. Let me get this straight... by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'll live forever if I eat babies?

    1. Re:Let me get this straight... by KarrdeSW · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'll live forever if I eat babies?

      Are you sure you want to be that young? I'll stick to eating 18-year-old blond women.

      If this line of reasoning continues it's only going to get creepier.

    2. Re:Let me get this straight... by starbugs · · Score: 4, Informative

      Silly, It's 'EXPOSURE' (not 'PHAGOCYTOSIS') to Young blood cells.

      Think Hugh Hefner, not Silence of the Lambs.

    3. Re:Let me get this straight... by fyoder · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I'll live forever if I eat babies?

      It's a little more complicated than that. From the article:

      To see if younger blood could reverse the sluggishness of aging blood cells, the researchers began by surgically joining the bloodstreams of pairs of mice that were of different ages, but nearly clones of one another.

      So not eat, but perhaps get transfusions from a much younger sibling. It would probably have to be the same blood type. Simply sucking the blood of random babies is unlikely to be effective and won't be appreciated by their parents or society, so probably best not to.

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    4. Re:Let me get this straight... by frank_adrian314159 · · Score: 5, Funny

      I'll live forever if I eat babies?

      That's how Dick Cheney does it.

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      That is all.
    5. Re:Let me get this straight... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Funny

      through exposure to "young" blood cells, bone marrow stem cells start to act young again as well

      How do you think Demi Moore managed to keep it together so long?

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      You are welcome on my lawn.
    6. Re:Let me get this straight... by Requiem18th · · Score: 4, Funny

      He discovered it accidentally back when he was busy funding the Mongol Empire.

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      But... the future refused to change.
  3. There Is Nothing About Vampirism by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    in TFA.

  4. Paging Dr. Bathory... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Elizabeth Bathory could have told them all about it.

  5. Side effects include: by gad_zuki! · · Score: 3, Funny

    Side effects include:

    Wearing pasty white makeup
    Being especially emo and whiney
    Changing username to MrsCullen4Ever3
    Wearing black nail polish
    and hanging out with shirtless underage guys.

  6. Diabetes was mentioned, so... by Orbijx · · Score: 4, Informative

    I read TFA (gasp! rare!)

    They were using older and diabetic mice for their tests.

    I can't help but wonder if this discovery may have some effect on diabetes treatments in the future. For diabetics who still have some pancreatic function, and aren't wholly dependent on pills, maybe the results found from this research could help them.

    As for those who are dependent on pills, needles, and the like, I could wonder what it would do for them.

    The article didn't really clarify what happened with the diabetes in the affected test subjects, though, so I lack that answer.

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  7. Re:Let's keep this one to ourselves... by Totenglocke · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Science is necessary for medical treatments meaning saving and improving lives. Animals are not more important than humans and if X animals have to die so that countless human lives can be saved / horrible medical conditions can be treated so that their quality of life is better, then yes, it's a worthwhile trade off.

    Your argument would have a point if we were talking about human testing against people's will (as was done during the Holocaust). However, since we're talking about animal testing, the ethics part doesn't fit in.

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    "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." ~Thomas Jefferson
  8. Re:Meh by smellsofbikes · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'll stay young the old-fashioned way: eat sensibly, exercise, and suck the life force from teenage virgins.

    no offense but I'm going to try exactly the opposite: eat outrageously, slack, and get teenage virgins to suck the life force out of me.

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    Nostalgia's not what it used to be.