My Story: A Mitochondrial Journey
My Story: A Mitochondrial Journey
Deep Dive Summary
Sadly, most of my mitochondrial-sharing ancestors are no longer with us. This is especially upsetting given that we inherit our mitochondria from our mother, and mine passed away far too early. Her mom also passed early, and my mom’s younger sister passed even earlier, in her 40s. My sister, just two years my senior, unfortunately also passed far too early. All these losses happened way, way too soon. And while each passing was hugely impactful, when reflecting on the entire collection - well let’s just say a grand, overarching call to action arose for me: understand and nurture mitochondrial health.
Fortunately, mom’s brother (my uncle) is still with us, as is my mom’s mom’s sister’s daughter and her daughter (my cousins). All of them also share mitochondrial heritage, and I suspect their non-smoking habits have been among several critically important life choices. No way to sugarcoat it - smoking is mitochondrial murder (and drinking is assault and battery, arguably worse!); tragically, my mom, her sister, her mom, and my sister were big smokers. I have avoided it like the plague.
Fortunately, half my genetic robustness comes from my purebred Hungarian father, who thankfully is also still with us. He is one of the sharpest people I know, and remains more knowledgeable in his field than any other lawyer I have ever met (e.g. at 85.9 he is ‘of counsel’ after working over 60 years with his firm and still practicing!). Fortunately the word ‘retirement’ is not in his expansive vocabulary. I think in his Hungarian line, the “R” word was simply not in their vocabulary. I also subscribe to the concept and struggle to understand why people look towards “Rrrrrr...yayyytirement” (as Fonzie would articulate).
Work is force through a distance, which by definition assumes there is some resistance back and some progress is made. Work is critically important for our biology to thrive. I appreciate many people derive less (or absolutely no) pleasure from their j-o-b’s, and thus look forward to retiring. To this, I simply suggest a better word - “repurpose.” Indeed, force through a distance (work) is so very important. So if you are looking forward to repurposing, or have currently repurposed - hopefully you use this as an opportunity to keep working. I am sure it will do your mind and body good.
My father has been and always will be of critical importance to me. Not only was I able to build a core educational foundation and an enabling framework because of him, my father has been an incredible living example for me in so many ways. I absolutely dread the time - hopefully in the far future - that I can no longer reach out to him with a question or comment. I especially enjoy communicating with him by email. His response time often rivals most others even when speaking interactively! As a written medium, this content will enable my build-up of an AI-Dad that I am certain will become a valuable resource at a time (hopefully) many years from now. I also plan on building an AI around my own content. Recall this has been one of the main drivers for me on this newsletter. Having been in the AI game for almost 40 years now, I know AI is only as good as the content it is trained on. Content is King. As people understand this more, I am certain many fears will subside. Indeed, I suspect more people will recognize that their own content is a currency. Many will want to build their own AIs based on their own personal content. I am doing so for myself and my family.
Back to mitochondria: Biologically there are several reasons we don’t inherit our mitochondria from our father. Given my mitochondrial heritage, though, you might understand now why have a passion for fostering mitochondrial health. All said, it’s important to remember that you are not solely defined by the nuclear DNA (nDNA - i.e. the genes you inherit from both parents), and/or your mitochondrial DNA (mDNA - i.e. the genes you only inherit from your mother). You are also shaped by your microbiome, your lifestyle, and your environment. These last three factors, in particular, are often deeply within your control.
Fortunately my two daughters - Lili and Hannah - inherited their mitochondria from their mom Kirsten. Another reason they all rock sleep! No question sleep is foundational. Initially, this newsletter will focus on my journey to embolden the key pillars related to feeling good (i.e. wellness), which include sleep, food, and movement.
I totally realize each could involve separate newsletters on their own, but for the moment my plan is to keep them all together, especially since they are so intertwined. My intent was to keep this to a monthly publication, but from time-to-time I may post an occasional blurb in between.
Stay tuned…
-Steve
For a music clip - I had a core of RickL’s Strange Brew group along with DanM and Johnny Conga in the studio for a session in June-‘24. They amazingly went after My Guitar Gently Weeps, so I jumped on board and enjoyed the ride. Might not be the best tune for my story post, but it can serve as a nice placeholder. The first couple seconds are muted for some reason, but hang in there…