DNA Limitation to Cellular Life

An article entitled “Is There A DNA Limitation To Cellular Life,” appearing in an issue of Organic Consumer Report, caught our attention. It had something to do with the aging process, a topic which has long fired the imagination of man since Ponce de Leon, and before.

The report emphasized that modern scientists – gerontologists – have theorized that humans are subject to a built-in genetic code, programmed by their DNA, which automatically slows down cell function after predetermined rhythms of cell reproductions. This is sometimes referred to as the biological clock, which is programmed for death.

Modern scientists, continues the article, have developed a theory that has the seeds of logic, based in biochemistry, and supported by clinical experience.

The theory involves a nine-step oxidative cycle which creates hydrogen electrons by breaking down compounds from our foods. These electrons leave the cycle at several points and are carried along by electron transport chains which become part of the structure of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) which is the primary energy carrier of the cell to promote tissue regeneration. If a single link of these transport chains is damaged, the energy cycle is reduced in efficiency and the cell is weakened. When such damage is cumulative, gradual reduction in cellular efficiency results, and the cell – and the individual – ages.

Tryptophan (a crystalline, essential amino acid and source of the neurotransmitters serotonin and melatonin) and to a lesser degree tyrosine (an accessory nutrient or co-factor) are intimately involved in aging, and research involves their dietary deficiencies as causative factors leading to death.

When tryptophan goes through the degradative processes of metabolism, coenzyme Q is produced, which serves as an interfering metabolite to block oxidative processes that produce hydrogen from food elements, in turn, reducing cell energy by inhibiting the production of ATP. Such dysfunction, or non-function, of coenzyme Q could become so dominant that the animal body would ultimately cease to function. Dietary abuses and stresses of all kinds under such conditions, become massive and critical.

Animal species of a normal short life span have a factor rate of metabolism and a greater potential for production of coenzyme Q interfering metabolites. Such species have also a greater need for oxygen, and coenzyme Q, a related and secondary explanation for short life.

In aging, there is gradual buildup of antimetabolites which inactivate coenzyme Q or interfere with its synthesis, leading to gradual reduction of cell energy and eventually degenerative processes in all living things.