Towards Better Blood

Fight Aging!

Do you want to live a longer life in good health? Simple practices can make some difference, such as exercise or calorie restriction. But over the long haul all that really matters is progress in medicine: building new classes of therapy to repair and reverse the known root causes of aging. The sooner these treatments arrive, the more lives will be saved. Find out how to help »

Improved blood has its upsides, as illustrated in Robert Frietas' view of respirocytes. While we're decades away from the era of advanced medical nanorobots, the creation of blood enhancers is a mainstream, going concern today. From Popular Science: "The life-giving liquid in our veins acts like a supply line for everything from nutrients to hormones to oxygen, even working double-time to regulate our blood pressure and fight infection. The manufactured substances, on the other hand, are one-trick ponies for oxygen delivery. But it's a trick they perform remarkably well - in the case of PFC-based substitutes, carrying oxygen at rates roughly 50 times that of our own blood." Once scientists have developed safe blood enhancers for treatment of traumatic injury, stroke, and the like, why not take that extra step and aim for safe permanent use as a preventative enhancement?

Link: http://www.popsci.com/popsci/printerfriendly/science/9e367f36fca9e010vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html