X-Message-Number: 7160 Date: Mon, 18 Nov 1996 20:31:57 -0800 (PST) From: Doug Skrecky <> Subject: Why the DNA-RNA experiment was never replicated All those who emailed their addresses have now been sent copies of the incredible report on increasing rat life span by 144%. This actually understates things slightly. After looking at the report again I saw that the maximum life span of the DNA-RNA injected rats was 2250, not the 2200 days previously reported. Sorry for this typo. The increase is then 150%, not the 144% previously stated. If anyone is still interested in recieving the report just email your address. After rereading the report it is apparent that the author Max Odens was not a life extensionist. This is perhaps not surprising given the conservative nature of many in the medical profession. Dr. Odens seemed to be mostly interested in proving a viral theory of cancer. The fact that he did not state the exact day of death of the remaining four injected rats suggests he may have found this embaressing, since this was almost certainly not what he was looking for. Indeed the 2250 figuare is suspect, since the chances of the exact day of death being a multiple of 50 are 1 in 50. I suspect the real figuare may be something like 2263. The fact that this experiment was not replicated is not hard to explain. Dr. Odens and his colleagues almost certainly had no interest in doing so, since they had little or no interest in extending the lifespan of humans. Here's a few quotes from the report: "ABSTRACT: To test the effect of RNA-DNA in preventing the deleterious effects of old age, an experiment was conducted that involved 10 rats with a normal life span of 800-900 days. All were fed the same diet; 5 rats were not treated, and 5 were given weekly injections of DNA + RNA. After twelve weeks the difference in appearance, weight and alertness was remarkable. The 5 untreated rats died before 900 days. Of the treated rats, 4 died at ages of 1600-1900 days, and 1 at 2250 days. A parallel cannot be drawn with aging in human beings fed RNA-DNA, but the findings on rats may have some application to cellular studies on cancer." (Later on in the body of the report Dr. Odens mentions:) "Although it is tempting to think in terms of the possibility of an equivalent prolongation of the life span of human beings accomplished by injections of DNA and RNA, it should be emphasized that the parallels between aging in rats and aging in humans are not only unknown but are entirely outside the scope of this experiment." Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=7160