parabiosis

American  

[par-uh-bahy-oh-sis, -bee-] / ˌpær ə baɪˈoʊ sɪs, -bi- /

noun

Biology.

1. experimental or natural union of two individuals with exchange of blood.

2. Physiology. the temporary loss of conductivity or excitability of a nerve cell.

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parabiosis British  

/ ˌpærəbaɪˈəʊsɪs, ˌpærəbaɪˈɒtɪk /

noun

1. the natural union of two individuals, such as Siamese twins, so that they share a common circulation of the blood

2. a similar union induced for experimental or therapeutic purposes

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Other Word Forms

• parabiotic adjective

Etymology

Origin of parabiosis

First recorded in 1905–10; para- ¹ + -biosis

Example Sentences

Several years ago, scientists studying aging at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute used a somewhat Frankensteinian technique known as parabiosis — surgically joining a young mouse and an old mouse so that they share blood — to see what would happen to the heart and skeletal muscle tissue.

From New York Times

In the early 2000s a group of scientists at Stanford University, California, revived a grisly procedure used in the 1950s known as parabiosis.

From The Guardian

Startup Elevian also wants to commercialise parabiosis.

From The Guardian

It was co-founded in 2018 by Amy Wagers, who was on the Stanford parabiosis revival team and is now a professor of stem-cell and regenerative biology at Harvard University.

From The Guardian

Studies published in 2013 and 2014 by Wagers’s laboratory and those of the company’s other scientific co-founders, showed that old mice injected with GDF11 reproduced several of the parabiosis findings – with regeneration seen in the heart, skeletal muscle and brain.

From The Guardian