Pondering Young Blood For Brain Rejuvenation with Tony Wyss-Coray

In 2011 and 2014 Tony Wyss-Coray and his lab members published high-profile papers in which they used a procedure called parabiosis and blood transfusions to show that blood plasma from young animals can rejuvenate the brains of old mice and vice-versa. Moreover, they found that young plasma restores cognitive function in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. Since then many other labs have confirmed this remarkable phenomena and Wyss-Coray and others have been working to identify the ‘rejuvenating factor’ or factors in young plasma. A recent preliminary clinical trial in which patients with Alzheimer’s were infused with plasma from young people generated promising results. Here I talk with Tony about this exciting area of research.

Links:

Professor Wyss-Coray lab page:
http://web.stanford.edu/group/twclab/...

Key publications:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...