anciendaze
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While the word stress is used in an alarming number of different ways, it has a non-psychological meaning when applied to mitochondria, which are not known to think at all. How do they communicate stress affecting them to the cellular machinery in the nucleus necessary to alter response? (Mitochondria do not have enough genes of their own to be independent organisms. Most of the DNA they need is stored in the nucleus.)
Here's a report on the discovery from Phys.org. The original announcement comes from Boston University School of Medicine. The molecule is a protein dubbed G-Protein Pathway Suppressor 2 (GPS2). This is the first time any similar protein has been found in a mammal.
I don't know how this might tie in with Dr. Naviaux's research, but the dauer state he describes is a highly-conserved defensive response to prolonged stress in organisms not known to do much thinking. (Physiological stress, not psychological.) Humans cannot hibernate, but various cells inside them can enter lower energy states. I'd speculate that this has become a response to intracellular infections or cancers, since both kinds of abnormal cells have increased energy requirements.
Here's a report on the discovery from Phys.org. The original announcement comes from Boston University School of Medicine. The molecule is a protein dubbed G-Protein Pathway Suppressor 2 (GPS2). This is the first time any similar protein has been found in a mammal.
I don't know how this might tie in with Dr. Naviaux's research, but the dauer state he describes is a highly-conserved defensive response to prolonged stress in organisms not known to do much thinking. (Physiological stress, not psychological.) Humans cannot hibernate, but various cells inside them can enter lower energy states. I'd speculate that this has become a response to intracellular infections or cancers, since both kinds of abnormal cells have increased energy requirements.