{"id":63,"date":"2013-01-29T01:59:14","date_gmt":"2013-01-29T01:59:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joshmitteldorf.peachpuff-wolverine-566518.hostingersite.com\/?p=63"},"modified":"2013-10-10T18:25:30","modified_gmt":"2013-10-10T18:25:30","slug":"63","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceblog.com\/joshmitteldorf\/2013\/01\/29\/63\/","title":{"rendered":"Early, spectacular success extending life span with buckyballs"},"content":{"rendered":"

A funny thing happened along the way to testing a carbon nanostructure for toxicity. \u00a0The lab rats who got the toxin lived twice as long. \u00a0Is there a possibility here for human health?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Three Allotropes of Carbon<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I went to school, they taught us that carbon was found in nature in two elemental forms (or allotropes<\/em>). \u00a0Graphite consists of 2D sheets of carbon atoms that slide over one another so smoothly that graphite is slippery enough to be used as a dry lubricant.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Diamond consists of carbon atoms in a 3D tetrahedral network, so rigid that diamond is the hardest material known to man.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
It was in 1985 that a third form was discovered: \u00a060 carbon atoms arranged in a pattern of alternating hexagons and pentagons, exactly as on a soccer ball.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\"\"<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The substance was named “Buckminster Fullerene” after the inventor of the geodesic dome, and the molecules are nicknamed “buckyballs”.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
At first, the chemical synthesis of C60 was performed via an intricate and complex recipe. \u00a0But then it was discovered that fullerene is all around us, and has been all along, unrecognized. \u00a0C60 can be found and refined in the soot from a candle flame!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Buckyballs are hollow, and clever chemists can manufacture them with an atom or small molecule locked inside. \u00a0The chemistry of buckyballs is both unusual and diverse, with applications ranging from lubricants to superconductors.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/b><\/div>\n
Rats that are fed buckballs live longer<\/strong><\/div>\n
Last year, a team of French biologists\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0that in testing fullerene dissolved in olive oil for toxicity, they were surprised to discover that the rats lived nearly twice as long as controls. \u00a0The result was the more remarkable because the rats were middle-aged by the time the study began. \u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
There were only 6 rats in each of 3 groups. \u00a0But none of the C60 rats contracted cancer, and they all lived >50 months, which is long compared not only to normal rats, but compared to other longevity studies, including caloric restriction.<\/i><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/b><\/div>\n
So the size of the effect has raised eyebrows, and\u00a0suspicion<\/a>\u00a0that the result must be an error.\u00a0\u00a0Another surprise is that C60 is not even a biomolecule. \u00a0So much of metabolic chemistry depends on signal molecules that act like switches that can change gene expression and initiate a cascade of other hormones. \u00a0But C60 so simple and symmetric that it cannot be acting in this way. \u00a0Its effect is likely to be much more direct.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The olive oil is crucial. \u00a0C60 molecules clump together, and it took weeks of stirring to get them dissolved in the oil. \u00a0The more usual clumpy form of pure C60 clogs cell metabolism and is likely toxic.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The treatment with C60 was intensive for a week, then spread out over 7 months. \u00a0After that, the rats were “coasting” the last 3 years of their lives on whatever benefit they gained in their 2nd year.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The result, though surprising, isn’t completely out of the blue. \u00a0There have been other studies in the past shoeing health benefits from fullerenes. \u00a0C60 is known to be bioactive in a number of ways, affecting DNA expression, protein folding, …<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
But these effects are broad and varied, not highly specific like a biomolecule. \u00a0This is why C60 was thought far more likely to be toxic than beneficial.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Echoes of my report last week on SkQ<\/a>: \u00a0Like SkQ, C60 also concentrates itself spontaneously in the mitochondria, and like SkQ, C60 is a powerful free radical scavenger, which means it efficiently de-toxifies the reactive oxygen bi-products from the cell’s energy production.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Too soon to try it on humans<\/strong><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Some people have started taking C60 in olive oil, though it is not yet approved in the US for human consumption. \u00a0It can be purchased for (nominally) laboratory tests. \u00a0I consider myself an early adopter, and have experimented on myself with several substances that are not yet fully validated as life extension agents. \u00a0In particular, I take Product B<\/a> for telomerase activation and have taken TA-65<\/a> in the past. \u00a0I have also tried Skulachev’s eye drops, described last week<\/a>. \u00a0But 6 rats do not provide nearly the confidence I would need to ingest C60 myself. \u00a0 Experience reminds us that contradictions and inconsistencies abound in animal studies. \u00a0Many results don’t hold up over time, and even the most robust results from animals are found at times to be inapplicable to humans.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The French research team, headed by Fathi Moussa<\/a>, has begun efforts to replicate the result with more animals. \u00a0This is the right next step.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
A principal source for this page has been the November blog entry of Vince Giuliano<\/a>. \u00a0 \u00a0There’s a lot of detail on this page, with selective results from past studies of C60 in animals. \u00a0Vince concludes<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n

I strongly suspect that a deeper biological mechanism is involved in the health and longevity-producing effects of C60 despite the prevailing wisdom.\u00a0 As I see it the candidates for these deeper effects of C60 are (1) effects exercised on DNA including impacts on structural configuration, epigenetic gene activation effects, histones and nuclear envelope shape, (2) effects exercised on microtubule structures in cells, (3) effects on mitochondria, and (4) epigenetic impacts such as on histones and DNA methylation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

He goes on to detail his support for all four hypotheses. If you’re interested in this topic, I suggest reading\u00a0the full text<\/a>\u00a0as a next step.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A funny thing happened along the way to testing a carbon nanostructure for toxicity. \u00a0The lab rats who got the toxin lived twice as long. \u00a0Is there a possibility here for human health?   Three Allotropes of Carbon When I went to school, they taught us that carbon was found in nature in two elemental … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":65,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nEarly, spectacular success extending life span with buckyballs - 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\/joshmitteldorf\/2013\/01\/29\/63\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Early, spectacular success extending life span with buckyballs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A funny thing happened along the way to testing a carbon nanostructure for toxicity. \u00a0The lab rats who got the toxin lived twice as long. \u00a0Is there a possibility here for human health?   Three Allotropes of Carbon When I went to school, they taught us that carbon was found in nature in two elemental ... 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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. 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