It is often said that the young blood has healing power, and this is not some ancient myth. Some research in the arena suggests that the secret to youth lies in the blood of a human body. A newer research links this youthful effect to the presence of a protein called osteopontin.
Researchers have discovered that the older mice have a lower level of a protein called osteopontin. The stem cells injected into these older mice were seen to age quickly. When the same stem cells were put in a dish containing osteopontin, they appeared to heal and grow younger. The team working on the research is hoping to develop an anti-aging drug with a sole purpose to “make old blood young again.” This drug will boost the older people’s immune systems.
This research in the anti-ageing arena is significantly more time-consuming; converting a primary research result into an effective clinical drug spans over many years. A few years ago, the research was conducted where an old mouse was surgically joined to a young one to share the same circulatory system. The old mouse showed many signs of gaining youthfulness and asserted the fact that the secret to youth lies in the blood.
The results of the subsequent research have been quite opposing, some researchers suggest that the secret of youthfulness lies in the blood, while others are negating this concept. Old blood, however, had a negative impact on the younger mice. A startup called Ambrosia claims to bring youthfulness by transfusion young blood, costing $8,000 for the treatment. A clinical trial or a scam, no one knows for sure!
Another research studying genetically engineered mice succeeded to increase the life of mice by 30% than their average life cycles.
Researchers have associated hopes with the development of osteopontin into a clinically proven drug for anti-ageing. We will just have to wait and see how that turns out in the future.