Ageless Animals & Autophagy
eighthman
09 Jan 2012
I've read everything I can on ageless animals as well as autophagy ( including the long thread on this forum) and feel a lot of frustration.
It seems to me that fasting may be a large factor in 'ageless animals'. I would speculate that this especially applies to clams, lobsters and tortoises. Whales normally fast for months, within a yearly lifecycle.
So, it appears to me that autophagy might play the largest part in keeping their cells free from junk. Why shouldn't natural selection improve a process that is central to an existence of limited food? While there is evidence that these creatures have more efficient mtROS systems, autophagy still might control the dominant part of anti-aging ability here.
Unfortunately, I can't find any studies linking the two things: ageless animals and autophagy.
I also have hope for autophagy as dominantly promoting extreme life extension because I see it as likely to be much easier to regulate than mtROS biochemistry as a complex chain of events. Whether the subject is electronics or biochemistry, feedback loops can be a nightmare to repair, if they're 'just a little off'! How many frustrating studies have you read that identify a supplement or regimen as antioxidant or helpful - or prooxidant and destructive depending on how much and when it's used?
It seems to me that fasting may be a large factor in 'ageless animals'. I would speculate that this especially applies to clams, lobsters and tortoises. Whales normally fast for months, within a yearly lifecycle.
So, it appears to me that autophagy might play the largest part in keeping their cells free from junk. Why shouldn't natural selection improve a process that is central to an existence of limited food? While there is evidence that these creatures have more efficient mtROS systems, autophagy still might control the dominant part of anti-aging ability here.
Unfortunately, I can't find any studies linking the two things: ageless animals and autophagy.
I also have hope for autophagy as dominantly promoting extreme life extension because I see it as likely to be much easier to regulate than mtROS biochemistry as a complex chain of events. Whether the subject is electronics or biochemistry, feedback loops can be a nightmare to repair, if they're 'just a little off'! How many frustrating studies have you read that identify a supplement or regimen as antioxidant or helpful - or prooxidant and destructive depending on how much and when it's used?
