When I first read the story, I asked myself “Hey, didn’t this already happen and I wrote about it?” And it turned out that I did, back in November. But that was a company called Alkahest. These are an entirely different company of literal bloodsuckers:
It might sound like science fiction, or a recent episode of “Silicon Valley,” but a start-up called Ambrosia is charging $8,000 for blood transfusions from young people.
About 100 people have signed up to receive an infusion, founder Dr. Jesse Karmazin said Wednesday at the Code Conference.
…”Ambrosia.” Because “Vitae” is probably still trademarked and “Ichor” gives off entirely the wrong 70s-movie vibe. But it gets better! Go check out the Ambrosia site. Swear to God, it’s dominated by a picture of the wintry, isolated, desolate woods where one might successfully discard one’s… empties. I mean, are they trying to freak potential donors out*?
Via Fark Geek.
Moe Lane
*Yeah, I know: they supposedly get their blood from pharmaceutical supply companies. Who somehow have access to unwitting teenager blood:
The donated blood typically comes from teenagers, although anyone under age 25 is eligible. The company buys its supply from blood banks, which also sell blood to pharmaceutical companies. So high-schoolers donating their blood are not aware that it might be used on healthy adults.
It’s just [expletive deleted] Nightmare Fuel all the way down on this one, folks.
I would feel better about the whole thing if they weren’t monetizing donated blood to feed the vanity and fear of old rich people.
Has anyone reached out to blood banks to see if you can specify “I want blood from young people”?
Read about this in Heinlein’s Methuselah’s Children which was serialized in the 40’s and published in the 50’s. But like Niven’s organleggers, they are already on the verge of technological obsolescence through cloned organs and blood and/or synthetic substitutes. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/lab-grown-blood-stem-cells-produced-at-last/