Forever young, I want to be forever young / Do you really want to live forever? Forever young...

The unusual experiments ofStanford University School of Medicineneurology professorThomas A. Rando, MD, Ph.D on laboratory rats sound like the work of a twisted madman. But they're attracting serious scientific attention, and some believe they may hold the key to the fountain of youth.

I. Parabiosis -- the Human Centipede of the Rodent World

The basis of Professor Rando's experiment is a straightforward hypothesis that has been proposed from time to time -- could tissue transplants from a young person or hormone replacement revitalize aging tissues to resemble younger ones?

The methodology is the more controversial and unusual part of the lab leader's work. Professor Rando has revived a technique which was pioneered by Professor Clive M. McCay at Cornell University in the 1950s.

The unusual surgery yielded one particularly interesting result -- when old rats and young rats were combined, after they were killed and dissected the tissues (particularly the cartilage) of the older rat appeared rejuventated. At the time, medical science was unable to explain this unusual finding.

II. Rodent Fusion Enters the Modern Era

A little over a decade ago, parabiosis was relatively uncommon.

But reviewing the over half century old work of Professor McCay, a pioneer in nutrition and anti-aging, Professor Rando was intrigued. He hypothesized that signalling chemicals for stems cells might be responsible for the restoration of the older rats that Professor McCay had witnessed.

As mammals age, some populations of their stem cells don't die or go away, but they do fall into dormancy. Stem cells can differentiate to replace damaged cells, restoring aged tissue.

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Cutting Open Rats and Sewing Them Together Offers Clues to Fountain of Youth