We all know the nursery rhyme about “this little piggy”: one little piggy went to market, one little piggy stayed home and so on. A modern rewrite could also include the little piggy that got injected into a rich man’s body.
The “super-rich” are using pigs brains to try and “biohack their way to immortality,” according to a report in the Daily Telegraph. Wealthy coffin-dodgers have regular injections of Cerebrolysin, a mixture of compounds taken from pig brains, to boost their brain health.
Wealthy coffin-dodgers have regular injections of Cerebrolysin, taken from pig brains, to boost their health
This isn’t the only way that pigs are being exploited in modern healthcare. Over the past three years, surgeons in the US have transplanted a genetically edited pig heart into three human patients, two of whom died within months.
I’m vegan so I wouldn’t go within a mile of any of those treatments on ethical grounds alone, but I can see why some would be tempted.

Get Britain's best politics newsletters
Register to get The Spectator's insight and opinion straight to your inbox. You can then read two free articles each week.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in