Animal testicles were supposed to prolong life
In 1889, the African doctor Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard injected himself with an extract from the testicles of dogs and hamsters.
The idea was that increasing the amount of testosterone in the body would keep it young and energetic. The doctor himself said that he felt rejuvenated during the treatment.
In reality, however, this did not lead to longevity. Four years after the first injection, Brown-Séquard died at the age of 76.
Later studies have not revealed any signs that animal testicles have any effect on aging.
But even if testicles were not found to be the key to longevity, the experiment was not entirely in vain. Brown-Séquard is considered to be among the pioneers in hormone therapy.
Feces rejuvenate the immune system
Feces can prolong life, at least if the words of scientists at the Max Planck Institute are to be believed.
They replaced the gut flora of toothed carp with gut flora from young fish.
In the experiment, the intestinal bacteria were first completely removed with antibiotics and the fish were then fed on juvenile feces.
The scientists also reversed the example and put the intestinal flora of old fish into young ones. The results showed that the old fish that received new intestinal flora lived 41% longer than young fish that received intestinal flora from old dental carps.
It is still not known what causes the intestinal flora of juvenile fish to turn back time, but the theory is that juvenile feces strengthen the immune system, but it weakens with age.
When beneficial bacteria enter the intestines, the immune system is revived and thus aging is slowed down.
Young blood improves brain function
The memory of old mice improves and they find it easier to find their way around after being injected with blood plasma from young mice. This is shown by various experiments in the USA .
The scientists are still not clear how this young blood affects the brain, but the experiments indicate that the protein in the blood acts on new neurons that are already present in the brain.
Of course, experiments on mice cannot be immediately transferred to humans, and there is still no evidence that blood transfusions have the same positive effect on people.
However, that doesn’t stop companies from selling young blood to old people. The treatment consists in the transfusion of 2 liters of blood plasma from people younger than 25 years old. The price is 8,000 dollars per liter.
An ancient bacterium with eternal life
In 2009, Russian scientist Anatoli Brouchkov found bacteria in the permafrost of Siberia. The bacterium, Bacillus F , is 3.5 million years old but shows no signs of aging.
The bacterium was injected into mice and banana flies and it was found to strengthen the immune system and stimulate cell division.
In 2013, Brouchkov went a step further and injected the bacteria into himself. He says that experiment is promising: “I started working longer and I haven’t had the flu in more than two years,” he said two years after the first injection.
Whether the bacteria has had any effect on him is, however, completely unproven.
He also has no theory as to why the bacterium can live so long.
Scientists have mapped her genome but have yet to find the genes that enable her to overcome death.
