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But where do we get those new mitochondria from? I'm almost afraid to ask.
by tambourine_man 8y ago
But where do we get those new mitochondria from? I'm almost afraid to ask.
- nine_k 8y agoMaybe from cloning one's own cells, then carefully dismantling them to free up mitochondria without damaging them? I don't think a lot of the tissue should be required (that is, ounces, not pounds).
- aldoushuxley001 8y agomitachondria are living organelles, they could simply be induced to replicate until the desired quantity is reached.
- tomjen3 8y agoIf I recall bio from school, they are super adapted to living in animal cells -- they probably couldn't survive on their own.
- aldoushuxley001 8y agoIt's true that they very much rely on a nuclear genome, because some of their genes required for independent replciation have been lost. But surely there's a framework that enables the mass replication of mitochondria using our own cells as a source material. I doubt blood would work because red blood cells contain effectively very minimal, if not zero, mitochondria (depending on stage of cycle). Funny enough, the best bet might be taking mitochondria from sperm or egg. Human sperm have ~50-75 mitochondria per cell. There's on average 50 million sperm cells per ml of ejaculant and the average is 2.5ml per ejaculation, so 125 million mitochondria could potentially be harvested from an average guy in a single go, provided the extraction is an unrealistic 100% efficiency.
- bjelkeman-again 8y ago50 million/ml x 2.5 ml x 50 = 6.25 billion, is what I get the number to be.
- aldoushuxley001 8y agoAh yes, I totally botched the math. Thanks for that. So 6.25 billion potentially harvestable mitochondria per average sperm donation. Hard to say how much might be needed for a rejuvination test, but those seem like viable numbers.
- logfromblammo 8y agoIf adipose cells could be used for this purpose, a small amount of liposuctioned fat would be adequate. And if pounds are needed, well... let's just say there should be plenty of eager donors for those who don't have enough.
- draw_down 8y agoI have a pretty good guess.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- tahoe1780 8y agohttp://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2010/ss/rejuvenate-your-cells-growing-new-mitochondria/page-01 http://www.lifeextension.com/magazine/2010/ss/rejuvenate-you... http://www.lifeextension.com/Magazine/2010/2/Reverse-Mitochondrial-Damage/Page-01 http://www.lifeextension.com/Magazine/2010/2/Reverse-Mitocho...