Oh no, oh no, oh no.
I mean, we should have seen this coming. Scientists have discovered that vampires, yes vampires, were right all along. The blood of the young helps keep alive the old.
[Technology Review] The antiaging power of blood might not be just the stuff of vampire stories. According to new research from Harvard University, an unspecified factor in the blood of young mice can reverse signs of aging in the circulatory system of older ones. It’s not yet clear how these changes affect the animals’ overall health or longevity. But the research provides hope that some aspects of aging, such as the age-related decline in the ability to fight infection, might be avoidable.
“At least some age-related defects are reversible, and the factors to reverse them are carried in blood,” said Amy Wagers, a researcher at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and Joslin Diabetes Center, in Boston, at a press conference on Tuesday. Identifying those factors could lead to new strategies to boost resistance to infection, and perhaps a decrease in some cancers, she said.
There are some discoveries I wish we didn’t make. Can a society that routinely kills millions of unborn children in the name of convenience be trusted with this kind of knowledge?
We already treat children as a commodity to be taken or left as desire dictates. Honestly, if this science shows the same result in humans, how long until farms of children to be harvested for their blood are the new thing.
One other thing. The vampirific reality will likely be much different from the movies. Those people who will be able to afford the “organic rejuvenation serum” won’t be those young beautiful people, no sir. Those clubs of the immortal will be akin to the nude beaches of today. If you have ever stumbled upon a nude beach (note- don’t go for a stroll down the Fire Island Nation Sea Shore), then you will know that the only people who go to nude beaches are people you would never, NEVER, want to see naked.
The people who will make first use of this technology are the Jocelyn Wildensteins of the world.
Shudder.
