Wish you had younger blood? Well, you can, if you're willing to pay a hefty price

It's not uncommon to hear older people say they wish they had younger blood, but now the possibility is actually attainable — if you're willing to pay the hefty price.

For $8,000, the California-based startup called Ambrosia will pump your veins with 1 liter of blood plasma taken from someone between the ages of 16 to 25. For 2 liters of the stuff, that will set you back $12,000.

The company is currently enrolling 600 people for its U.S. clinical trial to determine whether or not the endlessly sought-after fountain of youth may really be found in a bag of blood products. Participants must pay to be part of the trial.

Founder and Stanford Medical School graduate Jesse Karmazin told Business Insider that he considers blood to be a drug and he believes it could be the next big government-approved drug. Karmazin has a medical degree but is not licensed as a physician.

Why blood?

The idea of blood being used as a possible treatment for disease stems from research known as "parabiosis," which has been conducted on mice. Scientists have seen an anti-aging effect in older mice who were transfused with blood from younger mice.

What's the focus of the study?

The clinical trial would focus on certain biomarkers related to inflammation, nerve development, stem cell proliferation, blood clotting, immune function and amyloid plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease.

It would also measure major organ function and specific disease states including anemia, obesity, high cholesterol, dementia, and others, according to Ambrosia's filing with the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Researchers would measure a number of biomarkers from participants before and after the infusions to help determine efficacy.

Is it safe?

Blood transfusions are approved by the Food and Drug Administration and in many cases are life-saving treatments for people who've been in accidents or lost a lot of blood during surgery.

"Millions of plasma transfusions are performed safely in the U.S. each year and the FDA monitors the safety of the blood supply and transfusions closely," Karamzin told Business Insider.

Karamzin said he has already performed the treatment on 30 people and claims that they have seen improvements in muscle tone, appearance, and a renewed focus.

But there's no data collected to prove the improvements, which could also be the result of a placebo effect.

"I'm really happy with the results we're seeing," Karamzin said.

However, Irina Conboy, a researcher at the University of California at Berkeley told the publication that she considers Ambrosia's treatment risky.

"They quite likely could inflict bodily harm," Conboy told Business Insider. "It is well known in the medical community — and this is also the reason we don't do transfusions frequently — that in 50 percent of patients there are very bad side effects. You are being infused with somebody else's blood and it doesn't match."

Where is the procedure done?

There are five locations available for the procedure including Los Angeles and San Francisco; Houston; Tampa, Florida; and Omaha, Nebraska.