Viraj's Weblog

I was reading a brochure from the Juvenon guys about aging experiments. They describe an experiment where scientists took away an enzyme that checks for mitochondrial DNA errors in mice, sort of like an error-checking enzyme. Not surprisingly, more and more cells in those mice started getting mutations in that DNA. What they observed however was that the mice appeared to have accelerated aging.

So they are claiming that mutations in mitochondrial DNA correlates to aging, and it would make sense to say that if you can limit those mutations, the cells might live longer. That's the selling point of Juvenon.

Disregarding whether the drug actually works, what I find interesting is this ability to accelerate aging in an animal by isolation of this enzyme. Cloning studies could benefit from this. When animals are cloned, the scientists do not really know whether it is truly healthy or not. Many problems arise later in the animal's life, so they have to watch it for a long time. It's very difficult to 'prove' that the cloning resulted in a successful organism. That's why we don't see such quick advances in cloning, it requires time for analysis of the organism. But what if we could accelerate the aging of the animal in this process? Basically doing a fast-forward through the animal's life in order to analyze it's health without actually waiting and observing the normal lifespan. Then by doing many studies like this, we could find out the problems in the cloning techniques quicker and try new ones.

As far as Juvenon goes, I've tried taking it on an off. In some instances it made me a bit jumpy, like sort of 'wired.' I seemed more energetic and could think a bit faster, however it was difficult to relax. I had trouble sleeping when I took it before bed, so I won't do that again. I have a pretty messed up mind as it is, so this may be less than beneficial in my case. I can see how it would help older people though. I may continue taking in lower than the recommended dosage. They suggest 2 tablets daily, but I might take 2 every 3 days or something like that. It's all about dosage and how your body responds to it.

I have also been taking fish oil supplements, which I feel is good idea. I don't eat any fish at all, and there are many studies showing that such nutrients are beneficial. Honestly the best regimen for me involves napping during the day. I can think alot sharper and feel alot better. Polyphasia should not be slept on .