A new study led by scientists from Harvard Stem Cell Institute in Boston has shown that mixing blood from young people with the one from elderly might help reverse effects of ageing.
Lead researcher Amy Wagers discovered that the blood of the young animals seemed to rejuvenate ageing blood stem cells in the bone marrows of the older mice.
It also revitalised so-called "niche" cells in the bone marrow, which nourish, support and stimulate blood stem cells. Although old mice make more blood stem cells and more niche cells than young mice, many are faulty.
"The reason the old animals have too many is probably an attempt to compensate for these flaws," New Scientist quoted Wagers as saying.
Old mice also make too many myeloid blood cells, which contribute to inflammation and the development of cancer, and too few lymphoid blood cells, which orchestrate tissue repair.
