[HN Gopher] Mitochondria may contribute to neurological and psyc...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       Mitochondria may contribute to neurological and psychiatric
       disorders: research
        
       Author : LinuxBender
       Score  : 143 points
       Date   : 2021-06-20 16:56 UTC (6 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.scientificamerican.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.scientificamerican.com)
        
       | tgbugs wrote:
       | I've had a bias in this direction for quite a while. When
       | learning about neurodegenerative diseases back in college over a
       | decade ago my conclusion at the time was that something metabolic
       | was going on. Nothing else made sense to me as an explanation for
       | how symptoms and pathology for a disease could show up after
       | 60ish years. At that time I couldn't figure out how to make the
       | link though, so it was a leap.
       | 
       | I was in a lab meeting maybe 4 years ago or so and my PI had just
       | come back from a conference on Alzheimer's. He reported back that
       | groups had started investigating the role of mitochondrial
       | dysfunction in the disease and had been able to find that
       | lineages with variants in genes related to mitochondria and
       | energy homoeostasis were far more likely to have or develop
       | Alzheimer's. I haven't kept an eye on progress in that line of
       | research, but it is in line with what is being
       | reported/speculated here.
       | 
       | Finally, a couple of years ago I ran into the father of someone I
       | went to middle school with and I learned that he was a
       | biochemist. Somehow the conversation wound around to the
       | challenge of understanding neurodegenerative diseases. I asked
       | him for his take on a disease that only presents after 60ish
       | years. His immediate answer was DNA damage during mitosis. But
       | neuron's don't divide. And then it hit me. There IS something
       | that is still dividing inside the neurons! It is the
       | mitochondria! The other possibility is the astrocytes, the
       | microglia, or some other mitotic cell population in the brain,
       | but the mitochondria really stand out as fitting both the fact
       | the neurons don't divide and the instinct from a veteran
       | biochemist that something that takes so long to appear must be
       | related to DNA damage.
        
         | amelius wrote:
         | > something that takes so long to appear must be related to DNA
         | damage
         | 
         | May I ask why? Can't it be some other process that builds up
         | over time?
        
           | tgbugs wrote:
           | There aren't good candidates for highly non-linear processes
           | that can accumulate but take decades to hit some threshold.
           | Biological systems are full of homeostatic mechanisms that
           | prevent such slow accumulation and if and when they break
           | they do so suddenly, so virtually all the other candidates
           | don't fit the profile because you expect incidence to be
           | distributed evenly as a function of age or occurring early
           | (e.g. embryonic lethal).
        
         | pdfernhout wrote:
         | Like the article says: ""It's too soon to make any firm
         | conclusions about a lot of this stuff, but it sure looks like
         | the mitochondria are disrupted in many kids with autism," Frye
         | says. "And environmental exposures, especially early on, may be
         | programming the mitochondria to have different types of
         | respiratory physiology.""
         | 
         | You might find this of interest too from eleven years ago:
         | https://drhyman.com/blog/2010/12/09/breakthrough-discovery-o...
         | "Let's look more closely at what this new study in The Journal
         | of the American Medical Association tells us about
         | mitochondrial dysfunction and how this may lead us to new
         | methods of treatment--methods similar to the ones I used to
         | help reverse Jackson's autism. ... This study forces the
         | question: How do children acquire energy deficits that affect
         | their whole system, not just the brain? The causes of
         | mitochondrial dysfunction are well known, specifically as it
         | relates to metabolism and the brain, and I have documented them
         | in my books UtraMetabolism and The UltraMind Solution. They
         | include environmental toxins(iv)--mercury, lead and persistent
         | organic pollutants(v)--latent infections, gluten and allergens
         | (which trigger inflammation) sugar and processed foods,(vi) a
         | nutrient-depleted diet,(vii) and nutritional
         | deficiencies.(viii) These are all potentially treatable and
         | reversible causes of mitochondrial dysfunction that have been
         | clearly documented. I found all these problems in Jackson, and
         | over a period of 2 years we slowly unraveled and treated the
         | underlying causes of his energy loss which included gut
         | inflammation, mercury, and nutrient deficiencies. Over time,
         | the tests for his mitochondrial function and oxidative stress
         | (as well as levels of inflammation and nutrient status) all
         | normalized. When they became normal, so did Jackson. He went
         | from full-blown regressive autism to a normal, bright beautiful
         | 6-year-old boy. This is just one story, but if autism can be
         | reversed in one child, if there is any possibility of effective
         | treatments or a potential cure, it forces us to ask critical
         | questions: How did this happen? Can it happen in other
         | children? What were the biological patterns found and how were
         | they treated?"
         | 
         | And if it applies to young brains, why would it not apply to
         | older brains?
        
       | aerovistae wrote:
       | To this day I have to stop and think every time to remember which
       | is which between mitochondria and midichlorians.
        
         | Baeocystin wrote:
         | Easy to remember: Midichlorians are the ones which led to the
         | standardization of the computer/music interface.
        
       | seaorg wrote:
       | I don't have the time or energy to write a full explanation, but
       | my life has been consumed by this topic for the past two years. I
       | became very ill after a stressful life event and it became clear
       | to me that it involved mitochondria and inflammation, even though
       | that was bizarre and inexplicable at first. I have been lost in
       | the metabolic rabbit hole ever since. All I can say is that if
       | you have a disease that is tangential to this issue, endogenous
       | ketones will almost certainly have some kind of effect on your
       | symptoms -- for me they are almost a complete cure.
       | 
       | Take it from someone who's whole life has revolved around this
       | topic for years: this is a huge deal, it's real. There is a
       | medical revolution in the pipes having to do with metabolism and
       | inflammation. This article isn't a scam.
        
         | elric wrote:
         | There have been all kinds of studies pointing at mitochondrial
         | dysfunction for things like migraine and epilepsy; and that a
         | ketogenic diet can benefit those disorders. In fact, the
         | ketogenic diet was developed specifically to treat epilepsy. It
         | does seem to have some other downsides..
         | 
         | Had you told me a decade ago that stress could physically make
         | you ill, I would have laughed at you. But having been down that
         | road myself, I totally get it. In retrospect, it's weird how
         | dismissive people are of this. Platitudes like "it's all in
         | your head", while _technically_ true, completely miss the
         | point.
         | 
         | I hope something is in the pipes, but I'm skeptical of the
         | timeline.
        
           | mordymoop wrote:
           | I have recently seen a sincerely incredible improvement in my
           | migraines since I started taking supplements such as B
           | vitamins, Magnesium and CoQ10 aimed specifically at
           | facilitating mitochondrial function and other adjacent
           | metabolic processes.
        
         | zain wrote:
         | Does "endogenous ketones" just mean following a keto diet? What
         | were your symptoms?
        
           | chasebank wrote:
           | A quick google suggests 'endogenous ketones' are ketones
           | produced from inside the body, as opposed to 'exogenous
           | ketones' which are supplemented.
        
         | agumonkey wrote:
         | What else have you seen around this topic ? I was reading about
         | NAD levels (i'm not even sure it's fully related, my mind is
         | fuzzy these days).
        
           | bionhoward wrote:
           | Ketones are related to autophagy which de-junks our cells.
           | The ketones trigger recycling because they're produced when
           | the body runs out of stored sugar. Junk buildup is considered
           | a hallmark of ageing in the SENS literature
        
             | agumonkey wrote:
             | I'm slightly annoyed about not reading anything beside
             | SENS, do you know other groups like that ?
             | 
             | thanks
        
         | ravar wrote:
         | I'm going to second this saying that I have similar sequela
         | that were massively improved through the ketogenic diet. Also
         | if anyone is going to try the ketogenic diet make sure to
         | consume excess salt, potassium, and magnesium. Additionally it
         | is very difficult to maintain your weight on the keto diet. I
         | was only able to go for 6 months before I lost too much weight.
        
         | themgt wrote:
         | Yeah I see threads of this sort of argument coming from many
         | different angles. I just ran across this paper[1] via a youtube
         | review[2] which was mainly focused on diet/nutrition and
         | metabolism, but again is looking at mitochondria and possible
         | neurological connections. "The continuum of disrupted metabolic
         | tempo, mitochondrial substrate congestion, and metabolic
         | gridlock toward the development of non-communicable diseases":
         | 
         |  _The bioenergetic dysregulation could also prime for the
         | emerging of [neurodegenerative disorders] (O'Neill and
         | O'Driscoll 2015; Pugazhenthi, Qin, and Reddy 2017).
         | Hyperglycemia, obesity and hyperglycemia could induce the
         | extracellular amyloid b (Ab) plaques, hyperphosphorylated tau
         | protein, neuronal loss, and cognitive dysfunction, while the Ab
         | plaques might reciprocally induce [insulin resistance].
         | Together with the inflammation and oxidative stress, the
         | hyperglycemic-generated advanced glycation end products (AGE)
         | are also the critical cause of neurodegeneration (de Nazareth
         | 2017; Pugazhenthi, Qin, and Reddy 2017). There is a decrease in
         | the brian-derived neuro-trophic factors (BDNF) in both MetS and
         | NDDs, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Huntington's disease,
         | Parkinson's disease, and depression (Motamedi, Karimi, and
         | Jafari 2017). The concurrent mitochondrial dysfunction in
         | obesity, T2D, and [insulin resistance] ultimately causes
         | cognitive dysfunction (Pugazhenthi, Qin, and Reddy 2017). All
         | these interrelated pathophysiologies suggest the common
         | pathophysiologies of NCDs and NDDs. Prolonged bioenergetic
         | dysregulation thus potentially contribute to cognitive
         | dysfunction._
         | 
         | The tldr is you should go through periods of fed and fasted
         | state metabolically (what they refer to as "pushing" and
         | "pulling" energy into/from your body) - most Americans are
         | constantly in the fed/pushing state which leads to metabolic
         | dysregulation. Under this paradigm switching to a ketogenic
         | diet would help restore metabolic function and lead to more
         | time spent in the pulling state (due to lower insulin).
         | 
         | [1]
         | https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352475880_The_conti...
         | (full text)
         | 
         | [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WthvGKTKOH4
        
         | Magodo wrote:
         | > There is a medical revolution in the pipes having to do with
         | metabolism and inflammation.
         | 
         | Could you please elaborate and perhaps link relevant
         | literature, I've been fascinated with inflammation
        
       | msteffen wrote:
       | Just to note, I believe Terry Wahls has been arguing a version of
       | this for at least a decade (https://www.amazon.com/Minding-
       | Mitochondria-2nd-progressive-...) and has written a diet (the
       | Wahls Protocol) directed towards mitochondrial health.
       | 
       | I've been interested in her ideas ever since close family
       | contracted an autoimmune disease.
        
         | faeyanpiraat wrote:
         | Look for unbiased meta-analyses on this topic. I haven't found
         | any evidence that diets can cure or significantly modify MS
         | disease progression.
         | 
         | I'm affected by it so believe me if I say that I really wanted
         | to find something reassuring, but the evindence is just not
         | there.
        
       | DoreenMichele wrote:
       | It's good to see a piece talking about both genetic and
       | environmental factors in an "and" kind of way rather than an
       | "either/or" kind of way.
        
       | ameminator wrote:
       | Probably not, but I do hear that they are the power-house of the
       | cell.
        
       | treeman79 wrote:
       | https://sjogrenssyndromenews.com/2021/05/11/damaged-mitochon...
       | 
       | Brain fog is something I've suffered the last several years.
       | Eventually got a diagnosis of autoimmune Sjogrens. Similar to
       | Lupus.
       | 
       | A link between mitochondria and autoimmune has been of great
       | interest to me as I battle to keep my wits.
        
         | garganzol wrote:
         | Did you have a trigger event before onset of a disease?
         | Intoxication, infection, hypoxia or the like?
        
       | stevebmark wrote:
       | Fluoroquinolone antibiotics like ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin
       | are well documented to damage mitochondria, both function and
       | their DNA. "Brain fog" is a commonly reported side effect from
       | people who are permanently affected by fluoroquinolones. These
       | drugs:
       | 
       | - Delete backup mtDNA
       | 
       | - Cause oxidative damage to mitochondria, impairing their
       | function
       | 
       | - Impair mitochondrial replication
       | 
       | It makes because fluoroquinolones are designed to block bacterial
       | DNA replication by plugging up the enzyme that glues DNA back
       | together after it's separated during cell division. mtDNA
       | replication is very similar to bacterial replication. They damage
       | eukaryotic cells too, likely through a different mechanism.
        
         | jjtheblunt wrote:
         | Factual datapoint: my grandmother was on Cipro intermittently
         | for years (in Illinois) and was lucid as could be all the way
         | to 104, quite amusing too with so many decades of observation.
        
       | londons_explore wrote:
       | Don't mitochondria only come from maternal cells?
       | 
       | If the contribution was significant, wouldn't we have seen folk
       | tales about "if your mum goes mad, you'll go mad too!". Yet, as
       | far as I know, no such tale exists.
        
       | jillswift wrote:
       | If you remove all the mitochondria from a brain, it stops
       | working. So, maybe they are on to something.
        
       | cgugino wrote:
       | Great share; fascinating to see the potential and how this
       | greatly expands on the previous role of the mitochondria being
       | the powerhouse of the cell.
        
       | neonate wrote:
       | https://archive.is/oXonX
        
       | krustyburger wrote:
       | I remember playing the Squaresoft RPG Parasite Eve and enjoying
       | it despite how silly the mitochondria-oriented premise seemed. It
       | would be amusing if it turns out that mitochondria are indeed
       | hugely powerful in determining human outcomes.
        
         | falsaberN1 wrote:
         | Can't wait to become a karate angel. The game (and the Japanese
         | novel of the same name it was based on) mostly went by
         | pseudoscience but it was interesting. Then the game added a bit
         | more fire and stuff. And then very weird sequels that aren't
         | apropos to this discussion. Er, anyway. Imagine the publicity
         | if it turns out to retroactively have some scientific basis
         | though. Need to check if the author is still alive nowadays.
        
         | alashley wrote:
         | Great game, I never finished it, but I've always hoped to find
         | something nearly as far-fetched ever since I played it.
        
       | garganzol wrote:
       | It looks like a lot of people in this thread experienced the
       | effects of mitochondrial dysfunction by themselves.
       | 
       | Here is my 2 cents based on some experience with the topic.
       | Autoimmune manifestations may be just a normal reaction of the
       | organism to dysfunctional cells on their way to apoptosis.
       | Apoptosis occurs when the percentage of broken mitochondria
       | reaches a certain threshold. So you get the inflammation. It may
       | look like the organism attacks its own tissues by mistake - but
       | actually there is a reason.
       | 
       | When the inflammation kicks in, it also affects surrounding
       | healthy cells adding insult to the damage. You get some kind of
       | progressing encephalopathy that eventually leads to
       | neurodegenerative disorders.
       | 
       | A plausible treatment for such condition: inhibit inflammation
       | while trying to restore the normal mitochondrial function.
       | 
       | A gentle way to inhibit the inflammation is to use nonsteroidal
       | anti-inflammatory drugs such as Acetylsalicylic Acid (Aspirin).
       | 
       | Restoring normal mitochondrial function is considered impossible
       | if you have an inherited mutation in mitochondrial DNA (1 in
       | 50000 of population). However this is a pretty rare condition
       | while the most of mitochondrial manifestations (1 in 5000 of
       | population) are acquired from environmental factors such as
       | poisons, drugs, infections, nutritional imbalances.
       | 
       | The treatment for such an acquired mitochondrial dysfunction is
       | two-fold: 1) eliminate the initial vector (poison, infection etc.
       | 2) reverse the damage that occurred in mitochondria.
       | 
       | Infections, drugs and poisons are self-explanatory. The
       | nutritional deficit is more intricate. But in case of
       | mitochondria, it is basically covered by the Thiamine (B1
       | vitamin). The only gotcha is that you won't feel the effect with
       | supportive B1 doses like the usual 2 mg per day. You would need
       | therapeutic doses and a more bioavailable form for that to work,
       | like 300 mg of Benfotiamine per day.
       | 
       | Now once that is covered, you would just stop the progression of
       | mitochondrial dysfunction. But that may be not enough if it went
       | too far. You might still have the apoptosis, the associated
       | constant inflammation and the resulting degeneration.
       | 
       | What you can do to rejuvenate mitochondrial function is to use
       | substances like Nicotinamide Riboside (100 mg per day). This is
       | an efficient B3 vitamin precursor without the typical side
       | effects of Niacin. It restores cell respiration by playing the
       | role of an electronic transport in aerobic glycolysis pathway
       | (Glucose + Oxygen -> ATP) which occurs in a healthy mitochondria.
       | Nicotinamide Riboside is the preferred form of B3 because it also
       | plays the role of a mitochondrial growth factor which is a big
       | win in case of mitochondrial deficit.
       | 
       | Now once you combine all these methods, you may be onto
       | something. By modulating the inflammatory response you win the
       | time to restore the mitochondria thus avoiding massive cellular
       | apoptosis.
       | 
       | By gradually restoring the mitochondrial aerobic glycolysis
       | pathway, you are gradually reducing the associated lactic
       | acidosis which also plays a huge negative role in neurological
       | diseases. You break the viscous cycle of anaerobic glycolysis
       | swapping it with a normal, healthy aerobic pathway.
       | 
       | If the damage to the tissues and nervous system is not too
       | substantial, it may be a full recovery given some months of
       | therapy.
        
       | frereubu wrote:
       | I recommend commenters don't rise to the bait of the headling ("
       | _the_ key " is stupid) and respond to the precis instead: "Some
       | researchers suspect these bacterial ancestors living within our
       | cells may contribute to a wide range of neurological and
       | psychiatric disorders."
        
         | ramraj07 wrote:
         | Even the precis with an accented e is flawed. This is still
         | akin to saying the ALU in the computer CPUs is the key to
         | solving all our cybersecurity issues, like in a uselessly
         | pedagogical way it might be true but it's mostly bs. The fact
         | of the matter is our biological systems and signaling pathways
         | evolved with no particular plan in place, so of course various
         | components inside a cell play important roles that might not
         | sound intuitive to anyone. The mitochondria are very much a
         | part of our cell notwithstanding having their own dna, how many
         | trillions of generations do you need before you stop pointing
         | out that this family member was adopted or something ?
         | 
         | I'm not saying that these pathways should not be studied, but
         | it's very annoying that scientists resort to such disingenuous
         | messaging not just to the public but also to grant review
         | committees. My favorite other outrageous (important, but still
         | outrageous) strictly true but kinda bs statements include:
         | 
         | 1. We are more bacteria than ourselves because we have more
         | bacterial cells (our cells are 1000x larger so no shit) 2.
         | Using only 10% of your brain 3. Your immune system is
         | responsible for X 4. Your gut micro biome is responsible for X
         | 
         | (Though 3 and 4 have exceptions like when the autism
         | researchers finally conceded that maybe the parents were not
         | bsing after all and there's a gut immune connection).
        
           | whatshisface wrote:
           | > _This is still akin to saying the ALU in the computer CPUs
           | is the key to solving all our cybersecurity issues_
           | 
           | Except for Rowhammer. :)
        
         | faeyanpiraat wrote:
         | I second this, don't get discouraged by the other comment
         | thread, this is actually an informative piece.
        
         | dang wrote:
         | Yes. We've put that in the title above.
        
         | RivieraKid wrote:
         | Thanks for this recommendation. I will definitely consider it.
        
       | colechristensen wrote:
       | No. (I hate such headlines)
       | 
       | This is the 21st century. There's no one weird trick to being
       | healthy, successful, having a high quality anything.
       | 
       | Biological systems are complex and don't have a single variable
       | which needs optimizing, they have many, need many, and every
       | variable with leverage needs to be thought as a part of a whole.
        
         | nyrulez wrote:
         | I think both can be true. While what you say feels holistic and
         | true philosophically, in day to day, we cannot control for 1000
         | different variables and some things have more of an outsized
         | effect than others.
         | 
         | For example if someone wrote "Is Exercise the key to a healthy
         | brain", it sure can look click-baity, but in practice it's a
         | tried and tested lever to improve brain health. Sure, you can
         | say "oh there are 10,000 other things that influence brain
         | health and it's a very complex inter-connected system", but you
         | miss the fact that not all of those 10,000 things are equally
         | deserving of your time or even under your influence. In fact,
         | things like exercise or meditation can fall under the "weird
         | trick" category.
         | 
         | If focusing on mitochondria's health falls under that "outsized
         | effect" category is the thesis of the article and remains to be
         | seen if it can be included in the same category as other tried
         | and true influential levers.
        
           | lamename wrote:
           | You beat me to this thought, but the difference is that
           | exercise and high-level lifestyle changes will include
           | underlying changes in a million biological factors, including
           | mitochondria.
           | 
           | We see this over and over in press releases when new research
           | is focused on one mechanism (e.g. mitochondria). To me "weird
           | tricks" that capture whole body or lifestyle changes are at
           | least worth paying attention to. While "weird tricks" in the
           | name of a single biological mechanism are indeed overblown
           | (but still worth knowing if you're in to that sort of
           | information).
        
             | nyrulez wrote:
             | I'd say what lies at top of the food chain of cause and
             | effect is simply coming from "availability bias" i.e. we
             | give more weight to what we know to be true. Yes some
             | things have more downstream effects than others and that's
             | where you get your bang for the buck.
             | 
             | Whether mitochondria is just one mechanism or more of an
             | over-arching one is what research is all about. For
             | example, HRV feels like on obscure metric out of 100s of
             | metrics. But it has been shown to now have hundreds of
             | mental and physical benefits including longevity, that we
             | don't necessarily understand why but it still has risen to
             | the top. Same for intermittent fasting and so on. These are
             | indeed "weird tricks" in a pretty literal sense but they do
             | the job in predictable and often dramatic ways.
        
           | yourabstraction wrote:
           | It turns out these "weird tricks" are actually just the
           | things our bodies need to operate properly. We evolved moving
           | everyday, being outside, eating nutrient dense foods,
           | sleeping as much as needed, etc. It's crazy to me to think
           | that there are still people who don't think these things
           | could have huge systemic effects that impact the entire
           | aging/disease process.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | refactor_master wrote:
         | Slightly off-topic: I remember a couple of years ago how
         | "hydrogen sulphide may have role in cellular aging" morphed
         | into "why sniffing farts is good for you". It's really all or
         | nothing with these headlines.
        
         | u8mybrownies wrote:
         | Yes but this isn't just facts about a brain, it's an _article_
         | about facts of the brain and it wouldn't be #1 on HN without a
         | short, intuitive, attractive title.
         | 
         | If the title listed 1,000 weighted parameters in the question
         | it would be utterly unusable.
        
         | whatshisface wrote:
         | Every part of your molecular biology is there for a reason.
         | They're all necessary conditions for health. You take out the
         | the mitochondria, the Golgi apparatus, the microtubules, some
         | random protein that regulates membrane permeability, it doesn't
         | work anymore. There isn't a part of your cellular biology which
         | isn't important for a healthy brain. Your cells don't have
         | infotainment systems, and if they did they'd be like the ones
         | in a modern car that also unlock the doors and start the
         | engine.
         | 
         | (Edited to correct terminology)
        
           | hollerith wrote:
           | OK, but "microbiology" doesn't mean what you think it means.
           | (It is the study of microbes, i.e., very small independent
           | life forms.) "Molecular biology" though would fit right in to
           | your comment.
        
         | torh wrote:
         | Spot on.
         | 
         | Yet, people love "one trick" wonder -- just go on YouTube and
         | search for "golf swing" or "lose fat", it's so easy you don't
         | even have to leave the house.
        
         | wyager wrote:
         | It's possible there are kolmogorov-simple optimizations that
         | are evolutionarily complex, like the supplementation of a non-
         | synthesizable metabolite. We've made plenty of discoveries like
         | this in the past, such as with various mineral deficiencies. It
         | seems like we've exhausted most of those, but there might be
         | similar optimizations, such as not poisoning ourselves with
         | microplastics or whatever.
        
         | lcnmrn wrote:
         | Crazy idea: what if we can use mRNA or any other tech to make
         | old blood young again by changing the chemical composition? The
         | rest of the body follows along, it's proven.
        
         | dang wrote:
         | Ok, but please don't respond to just the headline. That just
         | perpetuates the shallowness.
        
         | f6v wrote:
         | Yeah you'll rather blow your brains out than try to understand
         | the totality of feedback loops in our bodies. The thing with
         | biology is that you can always try to nudge one subsystem to
         | fix something, but then there's the next and the next, ad
         | infinitum.
        
           | drchickensalad wrote:
           | Except it's not ad infinitum. It's ad constant, where
           | constant is sufficiently frustrating for a few generations.
           | Technology always gets there
        
             | nyrulez wrote:
             | This is indeed a big assumption. We have been able to
             | create new systems from technology but are humans capable
             | of reverse engineer complex biological systems or emulate
             | them effectively is a complete unknown. For example, there
             | are few groups trying to simulate a single cell for
             | decades, and we are still extremely nascent in our ability
             | to do so.
             | 
             | It is possible that there are many facets of reality that
             | are simply outside the comprehension of human brain. In
             | fact, is is likely that most reality is outside our
             | comprehension.
        
               | cameronh90 wrote:
               | "We have been able to create new land-based vehicles from
               | technology but whether humans capable of heavier than air
               | flight like birds is a complete unknown.
               | 
               | It's possible that there are many facets of flight that
               | are simply outside of the comprehension of human brain."
               | 
               | You could make this exact same argument for all
               | technology until it's discovered.
        
               | Smithalicious wrote:
               | Just because it's always worked in the past doesn't mean
               | it will always work in the future. I've actually spent
               | some time thinking about this in the past - a big hidden
               | assumption of science is that everything is knowable,
               | which we know is not _strictly_ true, and I 'm not
               | entirely confident that it's even _approximately_ true.
        
               | tsimionescu wrote:
               | Yes, and you'd be right to do so. Most technology that we
               | can imagine will not exist within our lifetimes. People
               | have been dreaming of flying apparatuses since the dawn
               | of mankind, and we only built one in 1900, probably more
               | than six thousand years since we first imagined the idea.
        
         | agumonkey wrote:
         | Thing is, mitochondrial, AFAICR, has never been the main focus
         | before. So it's still a bit useful to be able to review it for
         | the mainstream.
         | 
         | That said, +1 for holistic approach.
        
         | TX0098812 wrote:
         | "Hacker news commenters hate him!"
        
         | phreack wrote:
         | Such a headline almost reads like a joke. "Is blood the key to
         | a healthy brain?" would also read as funny. Are neurons? Lungs?
         | DNA? I understand the article is insightful but the tragedy of
         | click bait headlines strikes again.
        
         | EGreg wrote:
         | So, Betteridge strikes again?
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | LoveMortuus wrote:
         | The following is sarcasm: My shaman drilled a hole in my head
         | and now all of my headaches are gone, just like magic!
        
         | grawprog wrote:
         | Not just within the body. Life itself is layers upon layers of
         | interconnected systems from a micro to a macro to a global
         | level.
         | 
         | Humans have a very surface level understanding of the our
         | internal systems that make our bodies work, we know next to
         | nothing about most of the ecological and environmental systems
         | we also rely on. Everything from our external environments, to
         | the things that enter our bodies to all the things that live in
         | and on our bodies, all the things play a part in our health and
         | functioning.
        
       | papito wrote:
       | At this point, I would be starting every morning by consuming
       | about four dozen foods, beverages, and vitamins that will
       | allegedly make me a perfectly healthy human.
        
         | bogota wrote:
         | Not to mention most of them contradict each other. I have
         | completely given up on trying to figure out what is healthy
         | beyond trying to get fruit, vegetables, and not too much fat in
         | my food.
         | 
         | Anything beyond that seems to devolve into a never ending pile
         | of research and sudo research.
        
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