[GolfPopper]

"Research led by two teams from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and a team from the University of Queensland, Australia, has identified a blood factor as the common denominator behind rejuvenation of the brain through young blood transfusion, a longevity hormone and exercise."

Musk, Thiel, and their ilk are going to put us in Bug Jack Barron territory before the end of the decade, aren't they?

[photochemsyn]

Well, it would make a lot more sense for the wealthy class to have their own stem cells harvested at a young age then cryogenically store those stem cells and use them to seed artificial blood generation systems.

From this perspective, things look different. i.e. less sinister. A holy grail of biomedical genetics is the ability to create whole blood - white cells and all - from a patient's stem cells, as that would eliminate the need for blood transfusions as well as all problems related to any kind of incompatibility. Still seems to be a ways off, as blood generation is another one of those ridiculously complicated biological systems, and is also closely interwoven with the immune system (since pathogens tend to show up and spread via the bloodstream).

Now, maybe the easiest way to do this is with 'Dolly the Sheep' tactics, meaning wealthy people would create clones of themselves and then harvest blood and organs from those clones, as in at least one dystopian movie.

[throwuwu]

Or just program some bacteria to produce the compound in question like we do for everything else.

[catchnear4321]

that seems rather optimistic. more like plasma center/day care in low income neighborhoods.

would you blame a parent for taking their kid somewhere that gave them a good education, fed them well, and paid you, for just a little bit of their excess life force? you gotta weigh the pros and cons together. one man’s college education is another man’s immortality. everyone wins, just, not everyone wins as much.

[jkestner]

Of course I wouldn’t blame a parent for making the best of a dystopian kakistocracy to survive. Though I think increasing numbers of people are opting not to become parents to future environmental refugees/peasants/bloodbags in the first place.

[RelativeDelta]

Sadly it's the opposite. The people choosing not to become parents are exactly the people who would LEAST become climate refugees.

The vast majority of children today are being born in regions they will have to flee, while the regions they will flee to are hollowing themselves out.

The scenario leans towards a future where the very people who were best positioned to save the world chose not to because the challenge of it made them sad.

[coldtea]

>would you blame a parent for taking their kid somewhere that gave them a good education, fed them well, and paid you, for just a little bit of their excess life force?

Yes. It's those compromises that dig into dignity.

And also why people get to only have "excess life force" selling as their route to "good education, food, and payment".

[jacquesm]

Ira Levin's 'This Perfect Day' has that as one of the central themes.