06/04/2009 - 10:44am

Question: What's the connection between red wine, mole rats and the US Army?

Answer: Aging- or more accurately anti-aging.

Let's start at the beginning.

Just like every other business, team or enterprise, the US Army would like its people to stay young forever. After years of training and acquiring skills and wisdom, troops have to retire because of a decrease in physical/ cognitive abilities. If troops could stay younger for longer, then the training would be more cost effective.

So what is the army doing about it? The Army is doing research in cellular aging. Mitochondria, parts of every cell, are responsible for converting glucose to energy. It seems that as we age, the mitochondria slow down. Researcher think that this slowing down is what makes us decline physically and mentally as we age.

Last January, after looking at how this type of research is progressing, the Defense Department appealed for proposals that would find new ways to charge up mitochondria.

The Army is not alone in its interest in the field. Big pharmaceutical companies have also taken note of the potential. GlaxoSmnithKline has invested some $270 million into a compound called resveratrol that is found in red wine and that has been shown to enhance mitochondria performance and also help retard age-related complaints.

The Army has tried other methods to keep soldiers fit- exercise, diet and the like. But the Army would like to go right to the cellular level of aging, a method that would be much more accurate than the hit and miss of exercise and diet.

In addition to the resveratrol, biochemists at the University of Texas Science Center conducted a study on unbreakable proteins in mole rats. These mole rats outlive regular lab mice by about 20 years. The work at the University of Texas seems to suggest that efficient mitochondria and resilient proteins may work together to promote longevity and they are working on isolating the proteins that make those rats stay fit for so long.

The day may not be far off when an anti-aging pill will be sold – and sold out!! All thanks to red wine, mole rats and the US Army. After all, what's good for the Army is certainly good for us civilians.