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1 " Our bodies are historical accidents of evolution and ultimately can only be understood from an evolutionary perspective: how things got to be the way they are. From this point of view, a good guys-bad guys philosophy is a woefully inadequate way of thinking about molecules as complex as NFΚB. Even so, this is the norm. NFΚB is usually portrayed as Janus-faced, capable of abrupt swings from the good to the bad and the ugly. Sometimes it destroys neurons, sometimes it protects them. It is important, but profoundly unreliable as a drug target. "
― Nick Lane , Oxygen: The Molecule That Made the World
2 " When a molecule of vitamin C encounters a free radical, it becomes oxidised and thereby renders the free radical innocuous. The oxidised vitamin C then gets restored to its non-oxidised state by an enzyme called vitamin C reductase. It is like a boxer who goes into the ring, takes a hit to his jaw, goes to his corner to recover, and then does it all over again. "
3 " Infectious diseases cause a rise in oxidative stress, which is largely responsible for coordinating our genetic response to the infection. As we age, mitochondrial respiration also causes a rise in oxidative stress, which activates essentially the same genes through a common mechanism that involves transcription factors like NFΚB. Unlike infections, however, ageing is not easily reversed: mitochondrial damage accumulates continuously. The stress response and inflammation therefore persist, and this creates a harsh environment for the expression of ‘normal’ genes. The expression of normal genes in an oxidized environment is the basis of their negative pleiotropic effects in old age "
4 " Mitochondria, as we have seen, are only passed on in the egg, so all 13 mitochondrial genes come from our mothers. If these genes really do influence lifespan, and we can only inherit them from our mothers, then our own lifespan should reflect that of our mothers but not our fathers. "
5 " and predictions. Science is often presented as ‘the facts’, frequently in "
6 " establishment. In 1966, the Dutch geologist M. G. Rutten could write, in a charmingly antiquated style that has passed forever from the scientific journals: "
7 " the igneo-aerial food.” In other words, despite "
8 " of oxygen, whether we think of it as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, is the formation of free radicals. As conventionally stated, the idea that breathing oxygen causes ageing is disarmingly simple. We produce free "
