Laboratory Summary Report: 2011

Winter Quarter

1. We collected the remaining O flies (“RO”) from the Rose lab at UCI, and Genescient now houses ALL O flies.
2. In our Gen9 experiment, we tested MX-100 again. This time, we included a cohort of flies that didn’t get the treatment until mid-life. The reasoning behind this was to simulate what it might look like if someone in their 50’s started taking MX-100, as opposed to someone that started from youth, which has been the standard model of our fly experiments.
3. MX-100 extended lifespan in all treatment groups by about 50%, including the delayed treatment group.

Spring Quarter

1. To check for normal reproductive function in the flies, we performed a fecundity assay with MX-100 treated flies. No negative fecundity effects were observed, and female egg production was normal.
2. Genescient has decided to shift the focus of our research from cardiology and septic shock to Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).
3. We will use a crawling assay developed by Linda Partridge at University College London using a transgenic AD fly model to screen substances that attenuates the impaired movement of the flies.
4. We will start testing MX-100 and other neuro-protective supplements on these transgenic AD flies.

Summer Quarter

1. In the Genescient Lab, we developed a technique for rapid substance screening using starvation as a means of inducing stress in the flies.
2. This new assay will help us screen substances that help the flies mitigate this stress and live longer, but on a shorter time scale.
3. Our Gen10 experiment uses this new technique, and tests MX-100, as well as 3 reportedly neuro-protective substances: horny goat weed, milk thistle, and PQQ.
4. In this first stress test, we starved the flies using only agar treated with substances. The flies died off within a week, but MX-100 was the most “protective” followed by PQQ.
5. We decided to use MX-100 and PQQ in the next experiment, but using 10% and 20% of normal banana food treated with substances, rather than starving the flies outright.
6. Our Gen11 stress experiment shows that 10% of food is the optimal amount that still shows enough separation in survivorship trajectories, and also mirrors “normal” trajectories, but on a shorter (faster) scale.
7. MX-100 and PQQ performed about equally in Gen11.
8. aOur Gen12 experiment used the stress assay with B and O flies, testing MX-100, PQQ, alone and in combination.
9. During this Gen12, there was an extreme heat wave, and we didn’t yet have incubators in the lab. The heat added another element of stress and caused more rapid deaths, especially for the B flies. We were able to observe some stress resistance provided by the supplements, especially the combination of MX-100 and PQQ.
10. Our Gen13 experiment used the stress test to assay varying doses of Rebuilder and Milk Thistle.
11. Another heat wave was experienced during Gen13, but it appeared that the low dose of MX-100 and medium dose of Milk Thistle were most effective at maintaining survival.
12. Our Gen14 experiment used the stress test to assay Milk Thistle and PQQ alone and in combination.
13. PQQ alone, and combined with Milk Thistle, gave the best stress resistance in Gen14.
14. Our Gen15 experiment was our first large-scale stress test, assaying 13 different substances, including 2 forms of MX-100.
15. The most successful substances in the Gen15 experiment were MX-100a, selenium, low dose Genistein, and lithium.
16. In September, we moved to new lab location in Huntington Beach. We also purchased incubators for flies to help with temperature control during experiments.

Fall Quarter

1. Discussions began about ordering transgenic flies with 9 genes of interest, as well as AD genes.
2. Ben Goertzel submitted his report on the genetic analysis of O and B flies, distinguishing different genes that contribute to “O-ness.”
3. We begin to work with John Tower at USC about AD flies and experimental design ideas such as the crawl tests.
4. Our Gen16 experiment uses the stress test to assay MX-100a, varying doses of lithium, and silymarin. MX-100a + 5mg lithium was the most successful for stress resistance.
5. Our Gen17 experiment uses the stress test to assay MX-100a, BioPQQ, Genestein, Trentinoin, Coumarin in varying doses and combinations. MX-100a was still the most successful.