Heterochronic parabiosis and other stories . . .

Physicists invented the earliest kind of internet in the 1960s to share complex data. But 50 years on, the International Centers of Excellence for Malaria Research is still struggling to link data that are heterogeneous, large, and multi-scaled. However, it is now proposing a solution that “is widely applicable to large, multifaceted research projects, and could be reproduced in other contexts that require sophisticated data management” (American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 2015, doi:10.4269/ajtmh.15-0003). It’s bizarre that universal data sharing has taken so long to reach medicine, and high time that ridding the world of malaria was organised as effectively as discovering new subatomic particles or distant galaxies.

Heterochronic parabiosis. Do you feel your inner Dracula stirring at the sound of these words? They refer to the rejuvenation of ageing bodies with young blood, a concept that is causing much excitement among neurologists. Blood from young donors …