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Ambrosia: the startup harvesting the blood of the young
The notion has been parodied on TV, but a real company is offering transfusions of plasma from teenagers to reinvigorate older people. At $8,000, it’s a bit of a bloodsucker
Gavin Haynes
Mon 21 Aug 2017 17.21 BSTLast modified on Tue 13 Mar 2018 18.13 GMT
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The study is reminiscent of Robert Boyle’s 17th-century suggestion to ‘replace the blood of the old with the blood of the young’. Photograph: Science Photo Library/Getty Images
What we now call “intergenerational fairness” has suffered a lot lately, and it’s not about to be improved by the news that the Baby Boomers are sucking the blood of the young. Although, in fairness, they are only after the plasma.
In Monterey, California, a new startup has emerged, offering transfusions of human plasma: 1.5 litres a time, pumped in across two days, harvested uniquely from young adults.
Ambrosia, the vampiric startup concerned, is run by a 32-year-old doctor called Jesse Karmazin, who bills $8,000 (£6,200) a pop for participation in what he has dubbed a “study”. So far, he has 600 clients, with a median age of 60. The blood is collected from local blood banks, then separated and combined – it takes multiple donors to make one package.
It’s no coincidence his scheme is based near San Francisco. The idea has become faddish in tech circles. While anti-ageing products usually hold more appeal with women, two-thirds of the more than 65 participants who have signed up for this trial are men. Mike Judge’s Silicon Valley sitcom recently parodied the notion, with arch-tech guru Gavin Belson relying on a “blood boy” following him around to donate pints of sticky red at inopportune moments.
That fictionalised account may well be based on the real-life adventures of Peter Thiel, the PayPal founder, who has expressed interest in having transfusions (Gawker even reported that he was spending $40,000 (£31,000) a quarter on regular transfusions from 18-year-olds). He, and various other thinkers who radiate out towards the death-evading “transhumanist” movement, are fascinated by “heterochronic parabiosis” – the sewing together of two animals in order to create a living chimera. Studies going back decades show the regenerative effects of one organism being joined to another. In the 17th century, Robert Boyle – he of Boyle’s Law – suggested “replacing the blood of the old with the blood of the young”.
In 2012, the University of Cambridge’s Dr Robin Franklin led a group that showed blood from young mice could replace myelin sheaths – crucial for combatting MS in older mice. But it was a 2014 Harvard report that seems to have kickstarted the present revival of interest in transfusions. There, scientists injecting old mice with the plasma of a younger generation found it improved their memory and their ability to learn. Conversely, injecting old blood into young seemed to knobble the young rodents.
The scientific community has rolled its eyes at the “trial” element of Ambrosia. There is no control group and, with participation costing so much, no one involved is very randomised. Despite these criticisms of the science, Dr Karmazin is still reporting positive results. His team has found that levels of carcino-embryonic antigens fell by around 20%, as did the level of amyloids – proteins involved in cancer and Alzheimer’s disease respectively.
Improvements in sleep seem to be the most glittering prize to emerge so far: “As people get older, they have much more difficulty sleeping,” Dr Karmazin noted. Improve that and you get benefits in mood, immune system, weight management and much else.
It answers the question: how do you sleep at night after leeching the blood out of busboys and students? Just fine, thanks.
As 2019 begins…
… we’re asking readers to make a new year contribution in support of The Guardian’s independent journalism. More people are reading and supporting our independent, investigative reporting than ever before. And unlike many news organisations, we have chosen an approach that allows us to keep our journalism accessible to all, regardless of where they live or what they can afford. But this is only possible thanks to voluntary support from our readers – something we have to maintain and build on for every year to come.
Readers’ support powers The Guardian, giving our reporting impact and safeguarding our essential editorial independence. This means the responsibility of protecting independent journalism is shared, enabling us all to feel empowered to bring about real change in the world. Your support gives Guardian journalists the time, space and freedom to report with tenacity and rigor, to shed light where others won’t. It emboldens us to challenge authority and question the status quo. And by keeping all of our journalism free and open to all, we can foster inclusivity, diversity, make space for debate, inspire conversation – so more people, across the world, have access to accurate information with integrity at its heart. Every contribution we receive from readers like you, big or small, enables us to keep working as we do.
The Guardian is editorially independent, meaning we set our own agenda. Our journalism is free from commercial bias and not influenced by billionaire owners, politicians or shareholders. No one edits our editor. No one steers our opinion. This is important as it enables us to give a voice to those less heard, challenge the powerful and hold them to account. It’s what makes us different to so many others in the media, at a time when factual, honest reporting is critical.
Please make a new year contribution today to help us deliver the independent journalism the world needs for 2019 and beyond. Support The Guardian from as little as £1 – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.
Ambrosia: the startup harvesting the blood of the young https://www.theguardian.com/society...sting-the-blood-of-the-young?CMP=share_btn_tw
Plasma Therapy
Young plasma treatments are intravenous infusions of plasma from young donors, who are in the age range of 16 to 25. For this reason, we treat patients who are 30 years old or older.
Young plasma is the result of research into the science of blood. Experiments in mice called parabiosis provided the inspiration to deliver treatments with young plasma.
1 liter for $8000
2 liters for $12,000
Plasma is a medical treatment. Please contact us with any questions or to schedule a treatment with one of our physicians.
Ambrosia
The notion has been parodied on TV, but a real company is offering transfusions of plasma from teenagers to reinvigorate older people. At $8,000, it’s a bit of a bloodsucker
Gavin Haynes
Mon 21 Aug 2017 17.21 BSTLast modified on Tue 13 Mar 2018 18.13 GMT
Shares
4,461
Comments
58
The study is reminiscent of Robert Boyle’s 17th-century suggestion to ‘replace the blood of the old with the blood of the young’. Photograph: Science Photo Library/Getty Images
What we now call “intergenerational fairness” has suffered a lot lately, and it’s not about to be improved by the news that the Baby Boomers are sucking the blood of the young. Although, in fairness, they are only after the plasma.
In Monterey, California, a new startup has emerged, offering transfusions of human plasma: 1.5 litres a time, pumped in across two days, harvested uniquely from young adults.
Ambrosia, the vampiric startup concerned, is run by a 32-year-old doctor called Jesse Karmazin, who bills $8,000 (£6,200) a pop for participation in what he has dubbed a “study”. So far, he has 600 clients, with a median age of 60. The blood is collected from local blood banks, then separated and combined – it takes multiple donors to make one package.
It’s no coincidence his scheme is based near San Francisco. The idea has become faddish in tech circles. While anti-ageing products usually hold more appeal with women, two-thirds of the more than 65 participants who have signed up for this trial are men. Mike Judge’s Silicon Valley sitcom recently parodied the notion, with arch-tech guru Gavin Belson relying on a “blood boy” following him around to donate pints of sticky red at inopportune moments.
That fictionalised account may well be based on the real-life adventures of Peter Thiel, the PayPal founder, who has expressed interest in having transfusions (Gawker even reported that he was spending $40,000 (£31,000) a quarter on regular transfusions from 18-year-olds). He, and various other thinkers who radiate out towards the death-evading “transhumanist” movement, are fascinated by “heterochronic parabiosis” – the sewing together of two animals in order to create a living chimera. Studies going back decades show the regenerative effects of one organism being joined to another. In the 17th century, Robert Boyle – he of Boyle’s Law – suggested “replacing the blood of the old with the blood of the young”.
In 2012, the University of Cambridge’s Dr Robin Franklin led a group that showed blood from young mice could replace myelin sheaths – crucial for combatting MS in older mice. But it was a 2014 Harvard report that seems to have kickstarted the present revival of interest in transfusions. There, scientists injecting old mice with the plasma of a younger generation found it improved their memory and their ability to learn. Conversely, injecting old blood into young seemed to knobble the young rodents.
The scientific community has rolled its eyes at the “trial” element of Ambrosia. There is no control group and, with participation costing so much, no one involved is very randomised. Despite these criticisms of the science, Dr Karmazin is still reporting positive results. His team has found that levels of carcino-embryonic antigens fell by around 20%, as did the level of amyloids – proteins involved in cancer and Alzheimer’s disease respectively.
Improvements in sleep seem to be the most glittering prize to emerge so far: “As people get older, they have much more difficulty sleeping,” Dr Karmazin noted. Improve that and you get benefits in mood, immune system, weight management and much else.
It answers the question: how do you sleep at night after leeching the blood out of busboys and students? Just fine, thanks.
As 2019 begins…
… we’re asking readers to make a new year contribution in support of The Guardian’s independent journalism. More people are reading and supporting our independent, investigative reporting than ever before. And unlike many news organisations, we have chosen an approach that allows us to keep our journalism accessible to all, regardless of where they live or what they can afford. But this is only possible thanks to voluntary support from our readers – something we have to maintain and build on for every year to come.
Readers’ support powers The Guardian, giving our reporting impact and safeguarding our essential editorial independence. This means the responsibility of protecting independent journalism is shared, enabling us all to feel empowered to bring about real change in the world. Your support gives Guardian journalists the time, space and freedom to report with tenacity and rigor, to shed light where others won’t. It emboldens us to challenge authority and question the status quo. And by keeping all of our journalism free and open to all, we can foster inclusivity, diversity, make space for debate, inspire conversation – so more people, across the world, have access to accurate information with integrity at its heart. Every contribution we receive from readers like you, big or small, enables us to keep working as we do.
The Guardian is editorially independent, meaning we set our own agenda. Our journalism is free from commercial bias and not influenced by billionaire owners, politicians or shareholders. No one edits our editor. No one steers our opinion. This is important as it enables us to give a voice to those less heard, challenge the powerful and hold them to account. It’s what makes us different to so many others in the media, at a time when factual, honest reporting is critical.
Please make a new year contribution today to help us deliver the independent journalism the world needs for 2019 and beyond. Support The Guardian from as little as £1 – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.
Ambrosia: the startup harvesting the blood of the young https://www.theguardian.com/society...sting-the-blood-of-the-young?CMP=share_btn_tw
Plasma Therapy
Young plasma treatments are intravenous infusions of plasma from young donors, who are in the age range of 16 to 25. For this reason, we treat patients who are 30 years old or older.
Young plasma is the result of research into the science of blood. Experiments in mice called parabiosis provided the inspiration to deliver treatments with young plasma.
1 liter for $8000
2 liters for $12,000
Plasma is a medical treatment. Please contact us with any questions or to schedule a treatment with one of our physicians.
Ambrosia
