Rechârge Biomedical Clinic

(1927) – Muller and his Microscope

Dr. Muller irradiating Fruit Flies

Did you know that the very first theory of the telomere got it right?  Lucky guess?   No.   Just sound deductive reasoning.

Twenty-six years before Watson and Crick described DNA’s double helix, Herman Muller, a scientist from Harlem and the Bronx, was irradiating fruit flies at Woods Hole to produce mutants with deletions and inversions involving the ends of chromosomes. High energy rays produce DNA breaks, which is why UV exposure gives us skin cancer.

Because he never created deletions or inversions that affected the natural tips of the chromosomes, he concluded that:

‘‘. . . the terminal gene must have a special function, that of sealing the end of the chromosome, so to speak, and that for some reason a chromosome cannot persist indefinitely without having its ends thus sealed.’’

Muller coined the term “telomere” for the tips of chromosomes from Greek:  “telo” for ‘‘end’’ and “mere” for “body.” For his work in creating genetic mutations with X-rays, he takes home the Nobel Prize in 1946.

(1953) – Watson and Crick explain the double helix

Watson and Crick explained the structure of the double helix of chromosomes.  They explained that DNA is a code paired to an opposite strand. For this, they won the Nobel Prize in 1962.

(1961)  – The Hayflick Limit

Leonard Hayflick discovered that cells are not immortal and can only divide about 50 times before becoming non-viable (the so-called “Hayflick Limit” for telomerase-insufficient cells.)

He theorized that there must be a way the cells remember how ‘old’ they are and pass it along. We now know that is primarily from the length of the cell line’s telomeres.

(1967) -  Okazaki fragments

Okazaki explained that since it is impossible to assemble a lagging strand of DNA in the 3′ to 5′ direction, it has to be written in small 5′ to 3′ segments, begun with primers, and joined together before replacing the primer RNA with regular DNA.

(1973) – Olovnikov’s telomerase theory

"I told you so!"

Alexey Olovnikov, a Russian biologist, theorized that there must be a mechanism to create actively generate more length in the telomeres.  His reasoning was that since DNA always shortens with replication, without elongation, we could be unsustainable.

(1984) – Telomerase discovered

Blackburn, Sjostak & Greider find Olovnikov’s theorized mechanism in the form of the enzyme, telomerase.

For this discovery, the trio won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2009.

(2004) – Telomerase activator TA-65

Geron patented the extraction of TA-65, a small molecule activator of the body’s normal telomerase healing mechanism.

People begin taking this via TA Sciences in 2005.

(2009)  – Dr. Ed Park’s Stem Cell Theory of Aging

Knowledgeable people may consider my stem cell theory of aging to be a statement of the obvious, as do I.  But a greater number believe that aging is more complicated than just telomere erosion in stem cells and favor other theories. To read their theories and compare them with mine, go to http://www.rechargebiomedical.com/aging.html

Of course, theories are like opinions…everyone has one.   I very much welcome your emails telling me why my theory has holes or is just plain wrong.

Patients often wonder if after stopping TA-65, their cells will age even faster.  The answer is no; although unpleasant physical withdrawal symptoms are a common complaint after stopping anabolic hormones such as HGH (Human Growth Hormone) injections and sex hormones (testosterone and estrogens.)

Unlike hormones, Telomerase activation doesn’t supercharge gene expression,  it merely recharges the protective length of telomeres, like rechargeable batteries. That charge will then be shared with neighboring telomeres by rebalancing and prevent chromosomal damage that can lead to many, if not most, human diseases.

The musical, Bye, Bye Birdie asked: “What’s the matter with kids today?”

Well, if they inherited their parents’ telomere erosion, there would be a lot wrong with them! They’d be born older and with the DNA damage that mom and dad had acquired before reproducing.

But when a new life is created in a single cell fertilized egg, the telomere length is magically reset, like a pinball machine, to 15,000 base pairs, and the integrity of the DNA library inheritance is nearly error-free from highly error-protected egg and sperm cells.

A lot of cell division means a lot of telomere loss

In fact, because of the frenzied in utero growth and differentiation, you had already burned through 5,000 base pairs, so that on your birthday, only 10,000 remained.

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Since birth, you have lost and average of 1,000 base pairs per decade but lost them faster during stress, whether infectious, toxic, emotional, or from overuse. So, if you’re 60 years old, they could be as short as 4,000 base pairs in some types of stem cells.

Telomerase moves you back up the escalator

Think of your body’s stem cell telomere maintenance efforts like a an effort to walk or run back up a downward-traveling escalator.  Unlike run-of-the-mill cells, which die off from natural telomere shortening, stem cells use telomerase activation to print more and more telomere length.

Unhealthy living slows your upward movement, and may even make you descend faster towards the basement. In contrast, healthy living, via telomerase activation, allows you to run back up the escalator.  Since stopping TA-65 doesn’t speed up the escalator,  you will simply resume your descent from a higher level.

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Telomere erosion can be slowed or even reversed by telomerase activation, whether by exercise, good nutrition, psychosocial and emotional balance, or sleep.  Now, TA-65 is available to you as the world’s first safe and effective telomerase activator.  Think of it as an hour of cardiovascular exercise, four servings of fruits and vegetables, an hour of prayer or mediation, and eight hours of sleep, all in a tiny capsule!  Taking TA-65 is a way to reap the benefits of a healthy lifestyle for people who don’t have the time, inclination, or discipline to do so but do have the equivalent of a Grande Latte and muffin ($6.60) to spend on themselves daily.

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Postscript: For more inspiration from a real-life ‘windmill tilter,’ check out this story about an 80 year-old gentleman named Peter Hildreth who was banned from running up escalators.

People never change...only their stem cells do

We often think of our bodies as though they were machines.

But machines break down with usage, primarily due to friction.

In contradistinction, your body improves with overuse.  That is to say, more exercise makes your body stronger.  Do you know why?

Exercise activates telomerase

It is because exercise activates telomerase, just like taking TA-65!

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Elizabeth Blackburn, PhD- Nobel Prize winner 2009

Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, studied men with prostate cancer and showed that their telomerase activity could be increased by just three months of these healthy behaviors:

1) a diet of low fat, whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, unrefined grains, and legumes, which was also low in refined carbohydrates

2) moderate aerobic exercise (walking 30 minutes/day, 6 days/week)

3) stress management (gentle yoga-based stretching, breathing, meditation, imagery, and progressive relaxation techniques 60 minutes/day, 6 days/week), and a 1-hour group support session, once per week

4) Taking supplements of soy, fish oil, vitamin E, selenium, and vitamin C

Dr. Blackburn’s research suggests that healthy lifestyle choices may be acting via one final common pathway: telomerase activation.  And now, there is a safe way to activate telomerase that over 1,000 people have taken since 2005.

——————— Nature’s experiments ——————–

Not convinced? Consider Nature’s experiment of people completely devoid of telomerase activation, a disease called Dyskeratosis Congenita. Those kids die by age 12 of age-related illnesses such as heart attacks and cancer (N.B. their cancers suggest that chromosomal damage from telomere instability causes cancer, not telomerase activation as the naysayers of TA-65 say, unencumbered by data or a sound theoretical basis.)

Dyskeratosis Congenita suggests that your life expectancy without any telomerase activation is a meager 12 years. The fact is, the more telomerase activity you can muster, the better.

Two other validations of improved longevity being associated with increased telomerase activity come from Ashkenazi Jews who lived to 100 and trees that lived to 5,000 years .

I believe that the other major theories of aging, such as intracellular junk and oxidative damage, are off the mark.  But you might cry foul and tell me:  “Dr. Park, ‘when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.’ Aging isn’t all attributable to the telomeres and the only reason you think so is because you’re selling TA-65.”

But I would reply that with 92 nails per cell (i.e. telomere caps) and the need to copy and protect them 4.8 trillion times a day, you had better have a lot of hammers at work. The experiments of a Nobel Prize winner AND Mother Nature, as well as the benefits that we, the TA-65 pioneers, have enjoyed, all suggest that telomerase activation is strongly associated with healthier lifestyles and healthier living.

When all you have is nails, you better have a lot of hammers

Taking TA-65 is a safe and natural way to increase your telomerase activity and we believe that is a good thing.   Call me if you would like to join our revolution against aging because “the proof of the pudding is in the eating” and the only way you’ll ever be truly convinced is to what I did: try it yourself.