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acid (2,4-D) have been used for eradicating dandelions from lawns the pineal gland (where it is made), travels to the thymus gland for decades. These substances cause discordant cell growth and located behind the breastbone and possibly other endocrine glands differentiation which leads to fatal morphological changes and where it functions as a "releasing hormone" and modulates the physiological dysfunctions. Considering how important such synthesis of at least two other chemically distinct hormones unac- hormonal systems are to the survival of such a diverse group of | knowledged by medical science which I will label only as hor- organisms, I reasoned that mammals possess systems (even ifina | mone "X" and hormone "Y" for our purposes here. I have identi- vestigial state) which are functionally analogous, even if the fied the chemical structures of these substances. specific chemistry may differ. 2. It is both the relative and absolute ambient levels of hor- A second approach to understanding ageing holds that cell mones X and Y in the body that modulate cellular growth, ageing growth, differentiation, ageing and death are not the sole result of and differentiation phenomena. This effect is in turn probably accumulated cellular damage or of some unstoppable biological modulated by melatonin and at least one trace metal or its clock which resides exclusively within cells, but that these are organometallic complexes. Preliminary indications are that these instead hormonally mediated phenomena which result from the interactions are complex and remain largely unknown due to the interaction of a cell's genes with chem- limitations in funds and facilities ical substances present in the extracel- under which my previous work has lular matrix and produced in remote been carried out. The production of locations in the body. these substances is probably gov- This theory is supported by various erned by complex feedback loops lines of converging evidence, including Many unicellular organisms are that involve the sex hormones, thy- research done on the rare disease roid hormones, etc. Elucidating progeria, a syndrome in which various effectively immortal and these relationships must remain one endocrine glands malfunction and the reproduce by dividing goal for future research. victim rapidly ages and usually dies . 2 3. The thymus gland begins the before the chronological age of twenty. indefinitely... process of involution after the This devastating and poorly under- chronological age of 20-30 years in stood disease strongly indicates that humans. The pineal also calcifies the biological clock can be reset and and deteriorates. That is why CT speeded-up, and that this speeding up and NMR scans of the heads of older is associated with the failure of the pineal gland (a pea-sized gland which individuals reveal a white pea-sized object in the basal area of the brain lies at the centre of the brain), as well as the entire hypothalamic- which I have seen many people mistake for alien implants. I sub- pituitary axis. The failure of these glands to secrete vital hor- mit that the deterioration of these glands precipitates a deflection mones then causes the degenerative changes throughout the body in the concentrations of hormone X, hormone Y, or both. The commonly associated with ageing, only much sooner than in magnitude and direction (up or down) of these deflections is healthy individuals who lack the particular genetic defects associ- unknown, but is probably downward. ated with progeria. My own research, both in the library and the laboratory, has led me to gradually put such observations together with findings from other lines of investigation. For instance, it is now acknowledged that the hormone melatonin—secret- ed by the pineal gland—plays a role not only in the regula- tion of the sleep-wake cycle, but also in prolonging life span and in some cases, halting and even reversing some of the symptoms of ageing in laboratory animals and humans. The hormone also has anti-cancer activity. Such research, mostly performed in Europe, is amply cited in Dr Walter Pierpaoli's 1995 bestseller The Melatonin Miracle, and need not be dealt with in depth here.' Since melatonin is already a commonly sold health sup- plement, it cannot be patented by pharmaceutical compa- nies and consequently has marshalled little interest from the medical establishment, at least on this side of the Atlantic. However, this is irrelevant from the perspective of my own I believe that melatonin is an important, but relatively small piece of the overall puzzle and my work has taken this line of research beyond Dr Pierpaoli's discoveries into wholly uncharted territory. Synthesising this diverse basic research with the results of my own work in cell culture and in vivo, I have formu- lated the following general conclusions: 1. Melatonin's anti-ageing and anti-cancer effects are at least in part due to the fact that this hormone, after it leaves Many unicellular organisms are effectively immortal and reproduce by dividing indefinitely... JUNE — JULY 2005 NEXUS = 27 www.nexusmagazine.com