AGING CELLS. OLD HUMAN FIBROBLASTS SHOWING THEIR MITOCHONDRIA IN LARGE BRANCHED NETWORKS (RED), THEIR NUCLEAR DNA (BLUE) AND SITES OF DNA DAMAGE (GREEN). (IMAGE: GLYN NELSON/FLICKR)
Whenever I see my 10-year-old daughter brimming over with so much energy that she jumps up in the middle of supper to run around the table, I think to myself, "those young mitochondria."
Mitochondria are our cells' energy dynamos. Descended from bacteria that colonized other cells about 2 billion years, they get flaky as we age. A prominent theory of aging holds that decaying of mitochondria is a key driver of aging. While it's not clear why our mitochondria fade as we age, evidence suggests that it leads to everything from heart failure to neurodegeneration, as well as the complete absence of zipping around the supper table.
Recent research suggests it may be possible to reverse mitochondrial decay with dietary supplements that increase cellular levels of a molecule called NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide). But caution is due: While there's promising test-tube data and animal research regarding NAD boosters, no human clinical results on them have been published.
STRUCTURE OF NICOTINAMIDE ADENINE DINUCLEOTIDE, OXIDIZED (NAD+). (IMAGE: NEUROTIKER/WIKIMEDIA)