MOTS-c

Intermittent schedules, exercise timing, and the mixture of animal research, mechanistic reasoning, and repetition that shaped today's community conventions.

They are both mitochondrial peptides, and they are almost opposites — one a natural signal that tells cells to adapt, the other a synthetic molecule that physically stabilizes the membrane. Comparing them is the clearest way to see how many angles mitochondrial medicine really has.

A tiny peptide encoded inside the mitochondria may help explain how our cells adapt to exercise and metabolic stress — and it is opening a fascinating window into the biology of aging.