{"id":231,"date":"2024-08-26T13:14:08","date_gmt":"2024-08-26T13:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/experimentalfrontiers.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=231"},"modified":"2024-08-26T13:14:08","modified_gmt":"2024-08-26T13:14:08","slug":"what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/2024\/08\/26\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\/","title":{"rendered":"What we might learn from mitochondria"},"content":{"rendered":"

About a billion years ago, there was a high-powered bacterium \u2014 we\u2019ll call her Mitey \u2014 who was skilled at redox chemistry. This is the same chemistry that runs batteries, and it\u2019s much more energy intensive than the organic chemistry of life that came before. Mitey was a parasite who used her high-power chemistry to kill her host. And who were her hosts? One-celled creatures called archaea were the only other life forms at the time. Her host was named Archie.<\/p>\n

Well, it wasn\u2019t long (only a few million years) before Mitey learned the lesson that all parasites learn. If you kill your host, there\u2019s nothing left to steal. Mitey learned to keep her high-power toxins to herself, to live and let live. She made her home inside Archie. She reproduced and had babies that also lived inside Archie. When Archie split in half to spawn little Archellas, some of the Mitellas went with each half.<\/p>\n

And so Mitella\u2019s fate came to be tied to Archella\u2019s. And after only another few million years, some Mitellas had another idea. If they helped their Archella host, then Archella would do better, and Mitella would have more\u00a0lebensraum<\/em>. A win-win.<\/p>\n

\n

Every plant and animal in the world today is descended from Archie and Mitey.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

How to help Archella? One thing Mitella had in abundance was electrochemical energy. Mitella donated some of her prodigious energy to Archella. Archella learned to use it. The combination was unstoppable, and the rest is history. Every plant and animal in the world is descended from Archie and Mitey. Every cell in your body is filled with little Mitellas, and the cells are utterly dependent on Mitellas for the energy that powers their metabolism.<\/p>\n

Today, we call them\u00a0mitochondria<\/a>. There are hundreds in every cell, thousands in the muscle and nerve cells that need more energy. Mitochondria have succeeded far beyond any range that was available when they were parasites.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Lynn Margulis coined the word\u00a0endosymbiosis<\/a><\/em>\u00a0for a symbiotic relationship\u00a0within<\/em>\u00a0a single cell.\u00a0<\/em>She told this story in 1966 when she was still a grad student, and about 20 journals refused to publish her theory. Too radical. She\u00a0finally succeeded<\/a>\u00a0with the Journal of Theoretical Biology, and today her theory is\u00a0textbook biology<\/a>, too commonplace to be associated with her name or her story.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Humans might learn a lesson from Mitey<\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today, humans are a parasite on the planet, poisoning whole ecosystems, treating nature as a resource we can exploit. Parasitism is the first step toward symbiosis. We are beginning to learn from the damage we have caused, as it blows back to degrade our comfortable lifestyles. Some of us are poisoned by the same chemistry that is poisoning so many life forms on our lovely planet. We can hardly be surprised.<\/p>\n

We have a feisty (if hamstrung) environmental movement, fighting the capitalist mindset, hoping to curtail some of our most destructive behaviors.<\/p>\n

Human destiny<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Cutting back on the poisoning and the habitat destruction is our present struggle. It is the limit of our vision. But it is not our destiny. Our destiny is to learn from the mitochondria.<\/p>\n

There is some evidence \u2014 and I choose to believe \u2014 that the reason that\u00a0America before Columbus<\/a>\u00a0was home to the richest ecosystems in the world was not because the First Peoples were too stupid to exploit the biosphere the way peoples of Europe and Asia were doing at the time. I choose to believe that the First Peoples\u2019 ethos was different. They saw their role not as parasites on the land, but as symbionts. They knew how to use fire to maintain vast grasslands for herds of bison and elk. They knew how to plant gardens with adjacent flowers and vegetables that helped one another to grow. They planned seven generations in advance, and they planted their forests with fruits and tree nuts in the right combinations, mixed in with other deciduous and evergreen trees to make a vibrant, healthy forest. The forests they planted were richer and more productive than any in Europe or Asia, and I choose to believe that this was the product of a wisdom tradition.<\/p>\n

So\u00a0this<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0shall be our destiny. We shall combine the First Peoples\u2019 ethos with the methods of modern science. Under the stewardship of Future Human, Gaia will thrive and diversify and flourish as never before. The earth will be a richer, more beautiful environment than anything we can imagine, and far more productive for human needs than our technology of monoculture and fertilizer and toxins could ever achieve.<\/p>\n

We shall tie our destiny to Gaia\u2019s, and together we shall flourish beyond our most fantastic dreams.\u00a0This is my prayer.<\/p>\n

Footnote:\u00a0<\/strong>Sometimes, a cell will commit suicide, destroy itself for the sake of the larger organism. In our bodies, cells are doing this all the time when internal signals detect that they have become cancerous or when they are infected with a virus. The process of cell suicide is called apoptosis<\/em>,<\/a> and to this day the destruction is carried out by the mitochondria, not on their own initiative but on cue from the cell nucleus. The mechanism involves high-energy redox chemistry (ROS), recalling the origin of mitochondria a billion years in the past.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About a billion years ago, there was a high-powered bacterium \u2014 we\u2019ll call her Mitey \u2014 who was skilled at redox chemistry. This is the same chemistry that runs batteries, and it\u2019s much more energy intensive than the organic chemistry of life that came before. Mitey was a parasite who used her high-power chemistry to … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-50"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat we might learn from mitochondria - Experimental Frontiers, with Josh Mitteldorf<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/2024\/08\/26\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What we might learn from mitochondria\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"About a billion years ago, there was a high-powered bacterium \u2014 we\u2019ll call her Mitey \u2014 who was skilled at redox chemistry. This is the same chemistry that runs batteries, and it\u2019s much more energy intensive than the organic chemistry of life that came before. Mitey was a parasite who used her high-power chemistry to ... Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/2024\/08\/26\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Experimental Frontiers, with Josh Mitteldorf\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-26T13:14:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/08\/Margulis-mitochondria.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"512\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"288\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Josh Mitteldorf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Josh Mitteldorf\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/26\\\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/26\\\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Josh Mitteldorf\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/214c5d1dad9f15c48f03128d5cfccdb1\"},\"headline\":\"What we might learn from mitochondria\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-26T13:14:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/26\\\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":883,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/26\\\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/Margulis-mitochondria.png\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/26\\\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\\\/#respond\"]}],\"copyrightYear\":\"2024\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/26\\\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/26\\\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\\\/\",\"name\":\"What we might learn from mitochondria - Experimental Frontiers, with Josh Mitteldorf\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/26\\\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/26\\\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/Margulis-mitochondria.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-26T13:14:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/214c5d1dad9f15c48f03128d5cfccdb1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/26\\\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/26\\\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/26\\\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/Margulis-mitochondria.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/Margulis-mitochondria.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":288},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/26\\\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What we might learn from mitochondria\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/\",\"name\":\"Experimental Frontiers, with Josh Mitteldorf\",\"description\":\"Experimental Frontiers, with Josh Mitteldorf\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/214c5d1dad9f15c48f03128d5cfccdb1\",\"name\":\"Josh Mitteldorf\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d3a8498f3d727156673030716d233edc57840f110d501b1b523e1780e9043b92?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d3a8498f3d727156673030716d233edc57840f110d501b1b523e1780e9043b92?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d3a8498f3d727156673030716d233edc57840f110d501b1b523e1780e9043b92?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Josh Mitteldorf\"},\"description\":\"Josh Mitteldorf studies evolutionary theory of aging using computer simulations. The surprising fact that our bodies are genetically programmed to age and to die offers an enormous opportunity for medical intervention. It may be that therapies to slow the progress of aging need not repair or regenerate anything, but only need to interfere with an existing program of self-destruction. Mitteldorf has taught a weekly yoga class for thirty years. He is an advocate for vigorous self care, including exercise, meditation and caloric restriction. After earning a PhD in astrophysicist, Mitteldorf moved to evolutionary biology as a primary field in 1996. He has taught at Harvard, Berkeley, Bryn Mawr, LaSalle and Temple University. He is presently affiliated with MIT as a visiting scholar. In private life, Mitteldorf is an advocate for election integrity as well as public health. He is an avid amateur musician, playing piano in chamber groups, French horn in community orchestras. His two daughters are among the first children adopted from China in the mid-1980s. Much to the surprise of evolutionary biologists, genetic experiments indicate that aging has been selected as an adaptation for its own sake. This poses a conundrum: the impact of aging on individual fitness is wholly negative, so aging must be regarded as a kind of evolutionary altruism. Unlike other forms of evolutionary altruism, aging offers benefits to the community that are weak, and not well focussed on near kin of the altruist. This makes the mechanism challenging to understand and to model. more at http:\\\/\\\/mathforum.org\\\/~josh\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/AgingAdvice.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/scienceblog.com\\\/experimentalfrontiers\\\/author\\\/joshmitteldorf\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What we might learn from mitochondria - Experimental Frontiers, with Josh Mitteldorf","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/2024\/08\/26\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What we might learn from mitochondria","og_description":"About a billion years ago, there was a high-powered bacterium \u2014 we\u2019ll call her Mitey \u2014 who was skilled at redox chemistry. This is the same chemistry that runs batteries, and it\u2019s much more energy intensive than the organic chemistry of life that came before. Mitey was a parasite who used her high-power chemistry to ... Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/2024\/08\/26\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\/","og_site_name":"Experimental Frontiers, with Josh Mitteldorf","article_published_time":"2024-08-26T13:14:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":512,"height":288,"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/08\/Margulis-mitochondria.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Josh Mitteldorf","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Josh Mitteldorf","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/2024\/08\/26\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/2024\/08\/26\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\/"},"author":{"name":"Josh Mitteldorf","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/#\/schema\/person\/214c5d1dad9f15c48f03128d5cfccdb1"},"headline":"What we might learn from mitochondria","datePublished":"2024-08-26T13:14:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/2024\/08\/26\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\/"},"wordCount":883,"commentCount":1,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/2024\/08\/26\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/08\/Margulis-mitochondria.png","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/2024\/08\/26\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\/#respond"]}],"copyrightYear":"2024","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/2024\/08\/26\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\/","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/2024\/08\/26\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\/","name":"What we might learn from mitochondria - Experimental Frontiers, with Josh Mitteldorf","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/2024\/08\/26\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/2024\/08\/26\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/08\/Margulis-mitochondria.png","datePublished":"2024-08-26T13:14:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/#\/schema\/person\/214c5d1dad9f15c48f03128d5cfccdb1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/2024\/08\/26\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/2024\/08\/26\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/2024\/08\/26\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/08\/Margulis-mitochondria.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/08\/Margulis-mitochondria.png","width":512,"height":288},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/2024\/08\/26\/what-we-might-learn-from-mitochondria\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What we might learn from mitochondria"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/#website","url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/","name":"Experimental Frontiers, with Josh Mitteldorf","description":"Experimental Frontiers, with Josh Mitteldorf","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/#\/schema\/person\/214c5d1dad9f15c48f03128d5cfccdb1","name":"Josh Mitteldorf","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d3a8498f3d727156673030716d233edc57840f110d501b1b523e1780e9043b92?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d3a8498f3d727156673030716d233edc57840f110d501b1b523e1780e9043b92?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d3a8498f3d727156673030716d233edc57840f110d501b1b523e1780e9043b92?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Josh Mitteldorf"},"description":"Josh Mitteldorf studies evolutionary theory of aging using computer simulations. The surprising fact that our bodies are genetically programmed to age and to die offers an enormous opportunity for medical intervention. It may be that therapies to slow the progress of aging need not repair or regenerate anything, but only need to interfere with an existing program of self-destruction. Mitteldorf has taught a weekly yoga class for thirty years. He is an advocate for vigorous self care, including exercise, meditation and caloric restriction. After earning a PhD in astrophysicist, Mitteldorf moved to evolutionary biology as a primary field in 1996. He has taught at Harvard, Berkeley, Bryn Mawr, LaSalle and Temple University. He is presently affiliated with MIT as a visiting scholar. In private life, Mitteldorf is an advocate for election integrity as well as public health. He is an avid amateur musician, playing piano in chamber groups, French horn in community orchestras. His two daughters are among the first children adopted from China in the mid-1980s. Much to the surprise of evolutionary biologists, genetic experiments indicate that aging has been selected as an adaptation for its own sake. This poses a conundrum: the impact of aging on individual fitness is wholly negative, so aging must be regarded as a kind of evolutionary altruism. Unlike other forms of evolutionary altruism, aging offers benefits to the community that are weak, and not well focussed on near kin of the altruist. This makes the mechanism challenging to understand and to model. more at http:\/\/mathforum.org\/~josh","sameAs":["http:\/\/AgingAdvice.org"],"url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/author\/joshmitteldorf\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/08\/Margulis-mitochondria.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/65"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/experimentalfrontiers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}