
A new study finds that mice with genes from three parents live longer - llovan
http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21701731-effects-mitochondrial-donation-humans-are-less-clear-new-study-finds
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sushid
Click the first link from this search to get around the paywall.

[https://www.google.com/search?q=A+new+study+finds+that+mice+...](https://www.google.com/search?q=A+new+study+finds+that+mice+with+genes+from+three+parents+live+longer)

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scotty79
I'd like to see some cross-species mitochondrial donation. I'd bet mouse with
bat mitochondria would live for decades and never get cancer. (Some telomerase
might be necessary too)

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TheSpiceIsLife
I'm keen for designer pets. I'd like a dog with a bit of cat and cow mixed in,
so I could let it roam free and know it will always come home, maybe a bit of
elephant for longevity.

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scotty79
Mice is obviously just the first step. When mitochondrial wrangling is
perfected I'd like my (yet unborn) grandchildren to get some bat mitochondria.

Bats must had their mitochondria selected for amazing performance and
reliability. Using those could eliminate all those pesky old age diseases
caused by "leaking" mitochondria.

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TheSpiceIsLife
I know I could go a searching, but one of the things I really like about HN is
asking and seeing the bespoke responses.

So, what's so special about bat mitochondria?

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scotty79
Usually animals that have faster metabolic rate have shorter lifespans. It's
theorized that this might be because mitochondria get damaged as they provide
energy for the cells. Eventually they start leaking free radicals and
destroying the cell.

Flying creatures are exception. For flight animal needs extreme amounts of
energy so in theory bats should have livespan shorter than mice but that's not
the case. Somehow bats manage to pass huge amounts of energy during their
lifetime and still have pretty decent livespan. Evolution can figure out
workarounds for even most fundamental problems if there's proper motivation.
Some people think that aging and cancer are just result of evolution
sloppiness cause by the lack of need for cancer-free, living longer than
necessary individuals.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rate-of-
living_theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rate-of-living_theory)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrion#Possible_relatio...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrion#Possible_relationships_to_aging)

There's another clue that mitochondria age and get worse as they work and and
are very important. All of our mitochondria come from female reproductive
cell. Mitochondria from male reproductive cells are discarded, possibly
because they degraded when male reproductive cell traveled meet to female
reproductive cell. Female reproductive cell is inert and created very early in
life and stored throughout lifetime to provide untarnished mitochondria to
offspring. Male reproductive cells are created throughout life of an
individual, but they get gradually less mobile when they were made by older
individual. It's possible that this loss of mobility is caused by damage that
mitochondria sustained during male lifetime.

I can recommend [https://www.amazon.com/Oxygen-Molecule-World-Popular-
Science...](https://www.amazon.com/Oxygen-Molecule-World-Popular-
Science/dp/0198607830)

It's bit speculative towards the end but makes many very interesting points.
Written by Nick Lane, Professor of Evolutionary Biochemistry in the Department
of Genetics, Evolution and Environment at University College London

Another clue that mitochondria have costant damaging effect on cells probably
increasing in intensity with aging
[http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/306179.php](http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/306179.php)

