X-Message-Number: 26548 Date: Thu, 7 Jul 2005 20:42:09 -0700 (PDT) From: Doug Skrecky <> Subject: 182'nd update on fly longevity experiments This is the 182'th update of my fly longevity experiments. Average temperature was 22.8 C during this run. Estimated maximal longevity using the formula (363 - T*11.2) is 108 days. This is a continuation of run #180, which tests lower dosages of cerium oxide nanoparticles, from Nanophase Technologies Corporation. Product name is NanoArc Cerium Oxide SGH, and product code #EXP0324. This time lower doses of nanoparticles turned out to be slightly toxic. Usually one would expect higher doses to be toxic, but this turned out not to be the case in run #180. An explanation for this curious toxicity inversion runs as follows. In aqueous solution high concentrations of nanoparticles may tend to aggregate, and this may have impeded their absorption. Cerium oxide nanoparticles are self regenerating antioxidants, and their failure to increase longevity in drosophila argues that either free radicals are not a causal factor in fly aging, or that these nanoparticles cannot penetrate into mitochondria, which are believed to be the prime site of free radical damage. Run #182 Percent Survival on Day supplement 10 19 27 37 45 51 58 66 74 84 _____________________________________________________ control one 91 64 59 46 36 18 14 9 5 0 control two 96 82 71 61 52 30 23 7 0 - cerium oxide 1/256 tsp 58 47 47 28 25 8 8 3 3 0 " 1/256 tsp 83 65 65 48 40 30 13 8 0 - " 1/128 tsp 88 59 56 44 27 12 0 - - - " 1/128 tsp 71 56 49 37 32 12 10 5 0 - " 1/64 tsp 74 56 52 33 22 11 7 4 0 - " 1/64 tsp 80 50 48 30 23 15 3 3 0 - " 1/32 tsp 79 54 50 46 29 18 14 7 0 - " 1/32 tsp 90 52 41 41 28 10 3 0 - - Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=26548