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Why Some People Have Endless Energy (And Others Never Will)

From the article:

To put this in quantitative terms: consider an individual at the 5th percentile of genetic vitality. Even with an impeccable lifestyle, such a person might only reach the 25th percentile of vitality (energy levels, mood, motivation). Now consider someone at the 95th percentile of genetic vitality. Even with a mediocre or actively harmful lifestyle, this person might still operate at the 75th percentile or above. The gap between these two individuals, after both have optimized (or neglected) every modifiable factor, is entirely genetic.

The single most effective thing one can do to guarantee great energy, mood, motivation, metabolism, cognition, physique, and longevity is to pick the right parents.

This is not to say that lifestyle, hormones, and pharmaceuticals are unimportant. They clearly matter, often enormously. Rather, the point is that these interventions operate within a window whose size, position, and ceiling are defined by inherited genetic variation.

Vitality is affected by many things which I extensively discuss on my blog. These include metabolic health, hormones, inflammation, diet, exercise, and sleep, among other things. Each of these domains is important, and each is modifiable to varying degrees through lifestyle choices, pharmaceutical interventions, or behavioral change.

However, every one of these discussions has implicitly assumed a background variable that I have largely unaddressed: genetics.

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Blood Test #2 In 2026: Biological Age, CVD Risk, Correlations With Diet

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Discount Links/Affiliates:
Blood testing (where I get the majority of my labs, for those who blood test with Quest): https://www.ultalabtests.com/partners… those who blood test with LabCorp: https://www.anrdoezrs.net/click-10161… At-Home Metabolomics: https://www.iollo.com?ref=michael-lus… Use Code: CONQUERAGING At Checkout Clearly Filtered Water Filter: https://get.aspr.app/SHoPY Epigenetic, Telomere Testing: https://trudiagnostic.com/?irclickid=… Use Code: CONQUERAGING NAD+ Quantification: https://www.jinfiniti.com/intracellul… Use Code: ConquerAging At Checkout Oral Microbiome: https://www.bristlehealth.com/?ref=mi… Enter Code: ConquerAging SiphoxHealth Blood Testing (ApoB, GrimAge): https://siphoxhealth.com/mlustgarten Green Tea: https://www.ochaandco.com/?ref=fqbtflod Use Code: ML10OFF Diet Tracking: https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=139013… If you’d like to support the channel, you can do that with the website, Buy Me A Coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mlhnrca Conquer Aging Or Die Trying Merch! https://my-store-d4e7df.creator-sprin…

Blood Testing Essentials (Biological Age, CVD-Risk, Kidney Health and Function):
PhenoAge (Biological Age): https://www.ultalabtests.com/partners…

Risk-weighted ApoB (a better CVD predictor than LDL, non-HDL cholesterol, and ApoB): https://www.ultalabtests.com/partners…

Kidney health and function: https://www.ultalabtests.com/partners…

Scientists recruit red blood cells to deliver genetic cargo with instructions to kill cancer

Scientists have developed a way to turn the body’s own immune cells into cancer-fighting agents—without removing them from the body—by using red blood cells to deliver genetic instructions. Current CAR (chimeric antigen receptor) therapies typically involve collecting a patient’s T cells, genetically modifying them in the laboratory, and then reinfusing them in a process that can take weeks. The new strategy aims to bypass that step.

In a study published in Science Translational Medicine, researchers at Westlake Laboratory of Life Sciences and Biomedicine in Hangzhou, China, report that they used engineered erythrocytes, or red blood cells, to carry messenger RNA—mRNA—that reprograms myeloid cells into tumor-targeting cells inside the body.

“Engineering myeloid cells with chimeric antigen receptors—CARs—holds great therapeutic promise,” writes Dr. Xiaoqian Nie, lead author of the investigation.

New recyclable protein textiles could cut microplastic pollution and lower clothing waste

The textile industry produces a substantial portion of the world’s waste, with only about 12% of fiber materials ending up in recycling. Textiles also account for much of the microplastics in oceans. During every wash cycle, synthetic fibers shed microplastics that are flushed down the drain and eventually enter aquatic environments. Increasing textile recycling alone won’t solve this problem because most petrochemical-based fibers are difficult to recycle and continue to release persistent microplastics throughout their life cycle.

Engineers from Washington University in St. Louis may have a solution, thanks to dedicated synthetic biology work in the lab of Fuzhong Zhang, the Francis F. Ahmann Professor in the Department of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering and co-director of Synthetic Biology Manufacturing of Advanced Materials Research Center (SMARC).

The results of that work, now published in the journal Advanced Materials, created protein-based materials, which are produced in bioreactors (think giant brewing tanks) using genetically engineered microbes. These materials can be readily recycled after use and remade into the same fibers over multiple cycles. In addition, any microparticles, if released from these fibers during washing, would be biodegradable.

Single-molecule RNA mapping may reveal how shape shifts steer health and disease

Researchers from A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore (A*STAR GIS) have developed a new method to study individual RNA molecules and reveal how their structures influence gene regulation, a fundamental process that affects how cells function in health and disease. Their work was published in Nature Methods.

RNA is best known for carrying genetic instructions from DNA to make proteins. However, RNA does more than act as a messenger. Like a string that can bend, fold and interact with other molecules, RNA can adopt different shapes that affect how it behaves in the cell. These shapes can influence how efficiently proteins are produced, how long RNA molecules last, and how diseases such as viral infections progress.

Until now, studying these structures in detail has been difficult because RNA is highly flexible and dynamic. Most existing methods only provide an average picture across many RNA molecules, making it harder to see how individual RNA molecules may fold differently, even when they come from the same gene.

Scientists accidentally discover DNA that breaks the rules of life

A routine experiment with a new single-cell DNA sequencing method turned into a surprising scientific twist when researchers stumbled upon a bizarre genetic code in a microscopic pond organism. Instead of following the near-universal “rules” of life, this newly identified protist rewrites how genes signal their end. This unexpected discovery challenges long-held assumptions about how genetic translation works and hints that nature may be far more flexible—and mysterious—than scientists realized.

New targeted radiopharmaceutical therapy induces remission in pancreatic cancer model

A newly developed targeted radiopharmaceutical treatment can effectively slow tumor growth in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), according to new research published in the May issue of The Journal of Nuclear Medicine. In preclinical models, the treatment achieved complete remission of the disease, highlighting its potential to transform care for this highly aggressive cancer.

PDAC accounts for more than 90% of pancreatic cancer cases and remains one of the most lethal malignancies, with a five-year survival rate of less than 5% in patients with metastatic disease. Although surgery is the only curative approach, it is feasible only in 10%–20% of patients with localized disease.

“PDAC is very difficult to treat, and new options are urgently needed,” said Marika Nestor, professor in the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology at Uppsala University in Sweden. “Our previous findings suggest a possible new targeted treatment approach for pancreatic cancer patients whose tumors express CD44v6, which may help make treatment more precise and effective.”

Gene Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease Associated with GBA1 Mutations

Abeliovich et al. make a compelling case for the promise of using gene therapy to treat Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients who possess mutations in the GBA1 gene. People interested in the clinical-translational side of biomedicine should definitely check this out!

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