"Elixir of youth": explanations of a specialist
"Not to be confused with shamans, aura and other nonsense"About whether the Russian scientist Vladimir Skulachev really developed the "elixir of youth" in an interview with "Gazeta.
Ru" was told by his son, one of the leaders of the largest biological project in Russia, Maxim Skulachev.Nikolay Podorvanyuk talked
– This week there was a huge amount of news that sounds in the style of "A Russian scientist has developed an anti-aging remedy" and "A professor at Moscow State University has discovered the elixir of youth." How true are such headlines?(The original source of this noise with short but poisonous comments can be read in the community "Zhurnolamer" – VM.)
– Vladimir Petrovich Skulachev really heads the project, the purpose of which is to interfere with the aging process in order to slow it down, or even in some sense stop it. The project has been going on for quite a long time, and we have done a huge amount of work on animals. If at least 10% of success is repeated on a person, it will be possible to talk about a huge step forward in the fight against aging and, more importantly, senile diseases.
– All the news says that Vladimir Petrovich "has been perfecting his drug for more than 40 years." How much does this statement correspond to reality? Can you briefly tell us what kind of drug it is?– Well, that's not exactly true.
Vladimir Petrovich has indeed been working in the field of mitochondrial biology – bioenergetics for more than 40 years. This is a science at the junction of biophysics and biochemistry – not to be confused with shamans, auras and other nonsense! Moreover, his laboratory, later transformed into the A. N. Belozersky Research Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology of Moscow State University, played a crucial role in one of the key discoveries of biology of the XX century – the proof of the existence of an electric potential on the mitochondrial membrane. This is the main area of research of our institute in the last 40 years. But it was only in the 2000s that a practical innovative project grew out of this fundamental discovery.
– Another quote from the media: "After successful trials of eye drops on animals, the inventor tested the drug on his own cataract, and six months later his doctor told him that the cataract had disappeared." How much does this information correspond to reality?– Yes, it's true.
Vladimir Petrovich is the only person who, as an inventor, can try his own invention on himself. His cataract has really gone, but... I must say that he is extremely interested in the success of this experience. The placebo effect is not excluded, although in the case of cataracts it is not very clear how autosuggestion can help lighten the lens. Again, this is an isolated case, and there is a certain probability of a medical error when making the initial diagnosis. In short, we are very glad that Vladimir Petrovich does not have cataracts now, but from the point of view of evidence-based medicine, this is not proof. Unfortunately.
– Is it true that Vladimir Petrovich laid the foundations of such a science as bioenergetics with his works, and the project "Ion Skulachev" was created as a result to continue his long-term work?– Anyway, he came up with the name "bioenergetics" at the world congress of biochemists in the 60s.
And our project is a logical continuation of his scientific career.
– Please tell us more about the project "Jonah Skulachev". How many people are working in this project, what progress has been made, in which scientific journals can they be found? What upcoming publications and conference presentations are being prepared?– I think this is the largest biological project in our country.
It involves about 300 researchers from more than 40 domestic and foreign laboratories. Most of the work is carried out in Moscow, Novosibirsk, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, while very interesting research is being conducted on our order at Stockholm University, several American and German universities. For almost 6 years of the project, we have done a lot of work on all kinds of biological systems and laboratory animals. By the way, not only laboratory. We are very proud of the amazing clinical veterinary research (on domestic dogs, cats and horses), which was commissioned by us at the Moscow Veterinary Academy. Scriabin. The fact is that the very idea of our project implies such unusually broad research. As a basis, we took the hypothesis of the existence of a mechanism of aging common to most animals. And they came up with a set of substances (mitochondrial antioxidants) that should interfere with the operation of this mechanism.
The hypothesis assumes that such substances will have a positive effect on almost all living beings and at the same time will not just treat any one disease in them, but for each of the creatures slow down the development of a whole "bouquet" of senile signs.
Truly unprecedented research resources are required to test this hypothesis. Hence the size of our project team. The most amazing thing is that we really managed to assemble it and ensure coordinated work. And in experiments on cell-free systems, on cell cultures, on laboratory animals, the hypothesis was confirmed: we saw a positive effect on a variety of signs of aging. Of course, in some cases the results were more impressive (for example, in the case of senile eye diseases, which (in animals) we managed not only to stop, but also to cure by restoring vision to many blind animals), in others they were observed at the limit of reliability (for example, we managed to slow down the aging of fruit flies quite a bit, but still statistically reliable).
The first set of results of our project was published in the best (according to the international citation index) Russian biological journal "Biochemistry". 5 huge articles with more than 140 authors occupied the entire December 2008 issue. We thought of trying to "push" these articles into some American or English magazine, but then we abandoned this idea - and did not regret it. In just a year and a half (an insignificant period for scientific publication), we already have more than 100 links to these articles from international publications, the citation index of our favorite Biochemistry has grown noticeably, and therefore we are glad that we have worked for our journal, and not for Americans or Englishmen. But this does not mean that we are not published abroad. Most of the subsequent articles have been published in foreign publications.
I am proud to announce that in 2010 an article on the mechanism of action of our substances was published in the top American journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. There are publications in the Journal of Alzheimer Research, Molecular Biology of the Cell, Mechanisms of Aging and Development, Biochimica Biophysica Acta and others. In the very near future, the next articles will be published in the already "near-medical" journal Current Drug Targets, as well as a large and extremely interesting article in the new American magazine Aging.
– What are the future plans of your research group? Can we now assume the dates when clinical trials will take place and sales of your (one or more) drugs will begin?– The plans are not to slow down and move forward.
At the very start of the project, we were very concerned about how we could protect ourselves, our results. It's no secret that often domestic developments are openly stolen by our Western colleagues, large companies, etc. It's not even that we are somehow deliberately offended. Americans steal from each other even more often. I have consulted on this in several places, but the clearest answer came from the head of the Technology Transfer Department at George Mason University in Washington.
He said this: "If you stand still, neither publications, nor patents, nor press reports will protect your priority." That is, they are also absolutely necessary, but insufficient. We need to move forward as quickly as possible so that everyone in the world knows: you work in this field, you are the best, you have enough resources, and you will not spare your life to protect what is yours, and it is much better to negotiate and cooperate with you than to try to deceive.
As Vladimir Petrovich says, we just landed on a desert island and examined 10 meters of the beach. We still have a huge amount of work ahead of us. Moreover, since 2010, the project has started the most exciting and important stage of research – clinical trials of the drugs developed by us on volunteers. All our successes on animals and yeast are worthless if we cannot help aging people get rid of at least one senile disease.
– Tell us a little about yourself. Where did you study and have you always wanted to do science, and in the same field as your father?– I have two educations: I graduated from the Department of Molecular Biology of the MSU Biofac and the Faculty of Foreign Languages of our university.
Of course, I always wanted to be just a biologist, like my father, mother and older brother. However, I started my career in a different field than Vladimir Petrovich: I was engaged in the molecular biology of protein biosynthesis. I did it consciously: in biochemistry and biophysics, willy-nilly, I would have to prove that I am no worse than my father. And this is impossible: he is the most cited biologist in our country, there is simply no better one. But, of course, I was always aware of his work, we always discussed them at family councils, and when he said that he finally had the most powerful antioxidant in the world in his hands and, it seems, it was necessary to build a sensible project, I had to come to his aid. But my work in the project is more organizational than scientific. Although it's hard to say. Most of the experiment diagrams and reports go through me anyway.
– How much do you agree with the statement that science in Russia is experiencing a deep crisis? If so, does your field of science belong to those where the crisis is felt most deeply? How do you feel about cooperation with foreign scientists? Have you ever thought of going to work abroad, or in Russia, no matter what, there are opportunities to do science at a serious level?– It's true, and times are hard right now.
But we're still alive! You can't talk about a living person as a dead person, even if he is very ill. That's what pisses me off in many conversations about our science. If we really want to, we can find people, money, and other resources.
Not everyone succeeds, which is extremely sad. Many scientists are completely devoid of an entrepreneurial streak: they are used to living in an ivory tower (or, more simply, on the territory of Moscow State University) and physically cannot do anything with the constant cuts in funding, with the refusal of Western organizations to give grants to Russia (why do we need grants at such a price for oil and such a number of yachts from Russians?) and with the fact that from year to year everything is getting thinner and thinner, the most honest source of money for our science is the Russian Foundation for Basic Research.
I've done a lot of work abroad, it's not easy for a scientist there either, but still not like here. And most importantly, if you still received some grants, then in the West you can safely spend them, but with us… It seems that the presumption of innocence of the scientist is completely absent, for example:
– How!? Have you, the rector-dean-director of the Institute received 100 rubles of state money?! And you want to use them to buy 10 grams of purified sucrose for ultracentrifugation? Have you conducted a market research, which company to buy it from? Have you considered the possibility of buying in the domestic company "Horns and Hooves", which sells poorly refined sugar 100 times cheaper? What? Do you want to order it in Germany at Sigma? And you don't want to clear these 10 grams of sucrose for three months, proving that it is not infected with anthrax, will not be used for commercial purposes (10 grams!) and is not a precursor for the production of drugs?
– Allow me... I just wanted to buy 10 grams of ultrapure sucrose, which is not produced in Russia due to the meager market…
Of course, these are emotions, but it's a shame for the state. Especially in view of the announced course on innovation / modernization.
Maybe, after all, something needs to be changed at the conservatory? Ask us, scientists from the largest and brightest project in Russia, and we will tell you in two minutes how to do it, and without any special risks for the state. I fully agree with the fact that the misuse of funds or the smuggling of sugar really cannot be allowed.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru16.09.2010