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- TL;DR Summary
- Higher Glutathione levels in mice and possibly humans contributes to longevity
A precis of medical research about aging and aging reversal in mice:
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/ar...#Understanding-the-importance-of-mitochondria
[Mitochondria background]
Mitochondria are organelles in cells. There is a lot of research support for their appearance in prevuiously "primitive" cells via merger, transforming them into "modern" eucaryotic cells -> animals, plants, us. Eucaryotic cells arose to importance when oxygen levels in the early Earth's atmosphere rose, about 2.2 bya.
Mitochondria have their own DNA in a ring, called a plasmid. They affect inheritance in that they are directly inherited from mom 100% -> offspring. The rest of nuclear DNA in chromosomes comes from dad and mom, 50-50.
Mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell. But. They are messy and the energy process (Kreb's Cycle) leaves behind some nasty molecules called reactive oxygen species (ROS). Hydrogen peroxide is an ROS. One of the main janitorial molecules to clean up these nasties is glutathione.
[/Mitochondria]
The link above discusses how cells age due in part to the decease of glutathione production. Mice and humans are alike in this regard, mice show signs of aging at 65 weeks, humans ~60 years. There is evidence for oxidative stress (ROS damage run amok) in humans with low glutathione levels. Mice ditto.
Since human longevity studies take way too long, they used mice. Mice which had artificially induced higher levels of glutathione lived 24% longer than control populations.
The artficial boost of mouse gluthione came from glyNAC - a food supplement. It is a mixture of
glycine and acetyl cysteine added to mouse chow.
As always you cannot guarantee that mouse results projected to human results will be a match.
[IMO] if humans were to live 24% longer, then a lot of demographics would change and population growth rate ( births - deaths) would change. Maybe some good, maybe some not so good
[IMO]
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/ar...#Understanding-the-importance-of-mitochondria
[Mitochondria background]
Mitochondria are organelles in cells. There is a lot of research support for their appearance in prevuiously "primitive" cells via merger, transforming them into "modern" eucaryotic cells -> animals, plants, us. Eucaryotic cells arose to importance when oxygen levels in the early Earth's atmosphere rose, about 2.2 bya.
Mitochondria have their own DNA in a ring, called a plasmid. They affect inheritance in that they are directly inherited from mom 100% -> offspring. The rest of nuclear DNA in chromosomes comes from dad and mom, 50-50.
Mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell. But. They are messy and the energy process (Kreb's Cycle) leaves behind some nasty molecules called reactive oxygen species (ROS). Hydrogen peroxide is an ROS. One of the main janitorial molecules to clean up these nasties is glutathione.
[/Mitochondria]
The link above discusses how cells age due in part to the decease of glutathione production. Mice and humans are alike in this regard, mice show signs of aging at 65 weeks, humans ~60 years. There is evidence for oxidative stress (ROS damage run amok) in humans with low glutathione levels. Mice ditto.
Since human longevity studies take way too long, they used mice. Mice which had artificially induced higher levels of glutathione lived 24% longer than control populations.
The artficial boost of mouse gluthione came from glyNAC - a food supplement. It is a mixture of
glycine and acetyl cysteine added to mouse chow.
As always you cannot guarantee that mouse results projected to human results will be a match.
[IMO] if humans were to live 24% longer, then a lot of demographics would change and population growth rate ( births - deaths) would change. Maybe some good, maybe some not so good
[IMO]