In Old Blood

The body of a supercentenarian expands science’s appreciation for the physiological limits of aging.

Written byJef Akst

| 4 min read

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HENDRIKJE AND GERT: Holstege (right) chats with 113-year-old van Andel-Schipper in 2003.COURTESY OF GERT HOLSTEGE

In the 1970s, Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper, an elderly woman in the Netherlands, made the decision to donate her body to science after her death. She was in her 80s then and probably figured it wouldn’t be long before she would be able to deliver on her promise. But 30 years later, in the early 2000s, she was still going strong.

Wondering if she was of any use to science at the ripe old age of 111, she called up the nearby University of Groningen, and the message got passed around to neuroscientist Gert Holstege, who says he gets the question a handful of times a year, most often when a person who’s donated her body to science becomes ill. When he found out that van ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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