The Immortals – Ep 2. The Experiment
09/04/23 • 15 min
3 Listeners
Mike and Irina Conboy are a couple of tie-dye clad scientists in the bio-engineering department at the University of Berkeley. When they started researching ageing more than 20 years ago at Stanford, the field was nothing more than a spin-off from geroscience - most of their time at the lab bench was spent documenting signs and signals that our bodies are reaching their ends.
But in 2005, they published an article in Science that suggested there is hope for reversing ageing our tired old bodies. And the best bit of their study was that they proved there’s ample supply of the base material to do it - young blood. Using a revolutionary but ancient technique, their results re-ignited the millennia-old search for life everlasting.
In this series, technology reporter and psychologist Aleks Krotoski explores the frontiers of the extreme longevity pioneers. They've made their money in Silicon Valley. And with their technology solutions - PayPal, Facebook, cryptocurrencies - they've ushered in the world that we live in today, with all its unintended consequences. Some of them now want to solve the "problem" of aging, or even death, and they are making bigger strides than we may think.
Can they? Should they?
A Pillowfort production for BBC Radio 4
New episodes released Mondays. If you're in the UK, listen to the full series of Intrigue: The Immortals first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/3WEQS5W
Mike and Irina Conboy are a couple of tie-dye clad scientists in the bio-engineering department at the University of Berkeley. When they started researching ageing more than 20 years ago at Stanford, the field was nothing more than a spin-off from geroscience - most of their time at the lab bench was spent documenting signs and signals that our bodies are reaching their ends.
But in 2005, they published an article in Science that suggested there is hope for reversing ageing our tired old bodies. And the best bit of their study was that they proved there’s ample supply of the base material to do it - young blood. Using a revolutionary but ancient technique, their results re-ignited the millennia-old search for life everlasting.
In this series, technology reporter and psychologist Aleks Krotoski explores the frontiers of the extreme longevity pioneers. They've made their money in Silicon Valley. And with their technology solutions - PayPal, Facebook, cryptocurrencies - they've ushered in the world that we live in today, with all its unintended consequences. Some of them now want to solve the "problem" of aging, or even death, and they are making bigger strides than we may think.
Can they? Should they?
A Pillowfort production for BBC Radio 4
New episodes released Mondays. If you're in the UK, listen to the full series of Intrigue: The Immortals first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/3WEQS5W
Previous Episode
The Immortals – Ep 1. Dracula
Over the last 100 years, we’ve seen global life expectancy double. Could it happen again?
Technology reporter and psychologist Aleks Krotoski explores the frontiers of the extreme longevity pioneers. They've made their money in Silicon Valley. And with their technology solutions - PayPal, Facebook, cryptocurrencies - they've ushered in the world that we live in today, with all its unintended consequences. Some of them now want to solve the "problem" of aging, or even death, and they are making bigger strides than we may think.
Can they? Should they?
Bryan Johnson is a technology success story. In 2013, he sold his company to PayPal for $400 million, and now spends his time - and $2m annually - on the search for eternal life. He believes he has found the secret - or, at least, can find it in the thousands of scientific articles he and his team sift through for their protocol of treatments. The most unusual of which is infusing Bryan’s veins with the plasma of young people.
Has he discovered the fountain of youth?
A Pillowfort production for BBC Radio 4
New episodes released Mondays. If you're in the UK, listen to the full series of Intrigue: The Immortals first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/3WEQS5W
Next Episode
The Immortals - Ep 3. The Plasma Clinic
The Conboys’ experiment gave a young Harvard medical school graduate a big idea. But, there is a big gap between the experiments they did with mice in the lab, and pumping young blood into human beings.
Still, he registered his company, Ambrosia Plasma, on the Food and Drug Administration clinical trials website and began an ambitious human research experiment. For $8,000 in cash, cheque or digital transfer, anyone over the age of 35 could receive two litres of blood plasma from 16-25 year olds in their veins. The outcomes were ambitious - physical rejuvenation, weight loss, reversal of dementia, and healthy looking skin.
Does this fairy tale have a happy ending?
In this series, technology reporter and psychologist Aleks Krotoski explores the frontiers of the extreme longevity pioneers. They've made their money in Silicon Valley. And with their technology solutions - PayPal, Facebook, cryptocurrencies - they've ushered in the world that we live in today, with all its unintended consequences. Some of them now want to solve the "problem" of aging, or even death, and they are making bigger strides than we may think.
Can they? Should they?
A Pillowfort production for BBC Radio 4
New episodes released Mondays. If you're in the UK, listen to the full series of Intrigue: The Immortals first on BBC Sounds: bbc.in/3WEQS5W
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