X-Message-Number: 13377 Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 06:58:26 -0500 From: Thomas Donaldson <> Subject: CryoNet #13376 Hi again! To Doug Skrecky: The fact that antioxidants work so well in insects, and especially well when the insects have been bred to make more than the usual amount of antioxidant, unfortunately does not tell us much about our own aging. One simple reason they work so well is that insects normally have very short lifespans compared even to mice. The kind of cell repair adult mice can accomplish isn't needed at all by insects --- except, perhaps, queen bees and queen ants, for whom the effect of antioxidants would be very interesting indeed. I become very interested indeed, myself, if these studies of epithalamin did two things: tried to characterize it better chemically, and did more work on healthy strains of short-lived mammals. Mice are far closer to us metabolically than fruit flies, and the effect of a drug on mice gives a correspondingly strong reason to think about its effect on human beings ie. us. As we know from experiments, not even that always works, but for longevity it is probably the only thing we have short-term. Were the papers you suggest interesting? Yes, certainly. I just have doubts about their direct implication for us. Thanks, best wishes, and long long life, Thomas Donaldson PS: You did receive notice of the Updates to my ANTIAGING book? You're welcome but in no sense required to buy them. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=13377