Duke University scientists found that their procedure slows down ageing at the cellular level
Old animals live longer when their blood system is joined to a younger animal’s, scientists have shown in a breakthrough which hints at how to slow down ageing.
Throughout history, cultures across the globe have extolled the properties of youthful blood, with children sacrificed and the blood of young warriors drunk by their conquerors.
It was even rumoured that the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il was injected with blood from healthy young virgins to slow the ageing process.
Now, scientists have shown that surgically joining the circulatory system of a four-month-old mouse to a two-year-old mouse, for three months, slowed down ageing at the cellular level, and extended the lifespan of the older animal by 10 per cent.