Peter Thiel, tech billionaire and PayPal founder, believes people have been conned by “the idea of the inevitability of the death” and has funded startups dedicated to extending the human lifespan. The 48-year-old has even begun exploring an unsettling technique – harvesting, and infusing himself with, the blood of teenagers. In an interview with Inc.com’s Jeff Bercovici, Thiel said that the practice — known as parabiosis — is the closest modern science has come to creating an anti-aging panacea. “Parabiosis” means the biological joining of two individuals, and in Thiel’s case it entails him being infused with the blood of an 18-year-old. The 48-year-old billionaire “spends $40,000 per quarter to get an infusion of blood from an 18-year-old, according to reports. If you’re imagining the system the bad guys in Mad Max: Fury Road used to keep themselves healthy, in which they stole the hero’s precious blood, you’re imagining something surprisingly close to the biology involved in anti-aging parabiosis. The logical endpoint of Thiel’s dystopian vision could feature a world in which the wealthy, who wish to live forever, thriving on the blood of the poor, who will die at a normal age. Breaking Down The News reports: Thiel — a hedge [...]
