domingo, 22 de abril de 2012

Buckyball to a longer life

Can eating Buckyball-infused Olive Oil prolong your lifespan?
By Itza Montforte Noguez, Web Writer

It's already known that buckyballs could have great potential in fields such as drug delivery, medical tracers, cancer fighter, etc, but the toxicity was always a concern. Beeing so, a group of French researchers set out to study its toxicity and other effects and came up with a twist, not only are buckyballs safe but a buckyball diet double the lifespan of lab rats.
Since it's a limited study, many scientists have concluded that it's a result of a calorie-restricted diet but it still reaises questions about the potencial health benefits of buckyballs.

In this study, researchers put some buckyballs in olive oil and fed it to a group rats while control rat groups were given water and plain olive oil. The control rats' median lifespan was 22 to 26 months while buckyball rats reached 42 months. The buckyball was absorbed by the animals'  blood stream and eliminated from their bodies within 10 hours but it apparently worked as a potent antioxidant.

On the other hand, computer simulations and other studies have shown buckyballs are soluble in fat and can cross cell membranes, which is one reason why they could be usefull as drug carriers but could aldo make them toxic. Small doses of fullerenes are more toxic than large doses.

To read more about this article please visit:
http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2012-04/can-eating-buckyball-infused-olive-oil-prolong-your-lifespan

No hay comentarios.: