Why Mitochondrial DNA Damage May Be the Actual Root Cause of Aging

Tom explains that they conducted four safety trials on two elderly individuals about a month and a half before the interview. The goal was purely safety, not efficacy, so they did not measure rejuvenation outcomes. He emphasizes that the dose was low and not intended to produce noticeable effects. In mice, they performed a series of 10–12 injections, each delivering up to 1% of the mouse's total mitochondria, for a cumulative upgrade of about 12%. The mice were old, and the day after injections, technicians reported they were 'climbing the walls' and no longer looked old. Tom notes that these results align with the theory but cautions that everything discussed is still a theory and not universally accepted.

Tom explains that mitochondria shed from the bladder into urine are reliably bad, so a urine sample provides a consistent baseline of damaged mitochondria for elderly people. By sequencing the mitochondrial DNA from these samples and counting deletions, they can directly assess the extent of aging-related damage. The test is not yet publicly available because it's currently done manually and is very expensive. Tom advocates for eventually testing everyone in the US to uncover hidden mitochondrial damage. He acknowledges that other tests are good but not 100% accurate because mitochondrial quality varies by tissue source, and interpreting results requires understanding the mitochondrial cycle of the body.