Young pigs rejuvenate old mice

What's the news: Blood fraction from young pigs halves the biological age of old mice.

Why should we believe it: This news is based on a preprint of a paper that was posted online earlier this week. The authors of the paper are longevity heavy-hitters. They include UCLA professor Steve Horvath, the inventor of the aging clock, and Harold Katcher, the inventor of the world's oldest rat.

So what happened: The scientists first created a proprietary fraction of pig blood, based on a method invented by Katcher and called E5. They then injected this into old mice. Results:

• Rejuvenation of blood, heart, and liver tissue by more than 50%, as measured by epigenetic clocks

• Rejuvenation of the hypothalamus, a part of the brain that’s involved in aging in many ways

• Improvements in the function of various organs, including the brain, as measured by performance tests

Why this is a big deal: Previous research has shown that injecting young mouse blood into old mice has a rejuvenating effect — it's how we got the world's oldest mouse. The current study shows that this can work across species as well — and very well.

What specifically can you do now: Being injected with a distillation of pig blood might not sound appealing — but maybe it's time to start getting used to it. There is more and more animal evidence that these kinds of interventions have significant rejuvenating effects, and human trials are likely to follow soon.