++++ The Washington Laboratory For Scientific Exploration ++++

LIGHT

Solar radiation is a ubiquitous and essential component of our environment that is capable of permeating the entire human body. Originating from nuclear fusion at the sun’s solar core, it travels to the sun’s surface where it escapes into space as sunlight. This radiant energy is then filtered through the atmosphere and its surrounding layer of ozone before reaching earth. One of our major research goals is to discover novel ways that light interacts with the

human body so that we can control and manipulate these interactions to improve human health. To accomplish this goal, we study the effects of light on living organisms and biological processes. The eye, as our light-sensing organ, is a natural target for such investigations; however light also penetrates nearly all other organs. On aclear day the amount of light that penetrates your skull would allow you to read a book comfortably.

In one line of work, we are constructing a solar nano-cell that will convert light energy into chemical energy for the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy currency for cells (The Mammalian Photosynthesis Project). In another line of work we are creating drugs to enhance or enable near infrared vision (The Red Vision Project). We are also developing therapeutics to slow the progression of Age -related Macular Degeneration (AMD) and other macular dystrophies (The Good Vision Project).

OXYGEN

Atmospheric oxygen is produced when water is split into its molecular components—oxygen and hydrogen—during photosynthesis. Although hydrogen, as the lighter molecule, escapes our atmosphere, oxygen is inhaled into our circulatory system where it makes its way from capillary blood to intracellular mitochondrial organelles. Once there, most of it is used for energy production. The storage and transport of oxygen within cells is critical for nearly all biological

processes in the human body including muscle contraction, generation of nerve impulses, and DNA and RNA synthesis. Yet, much like a greater concentration of oxygen causes a candle to burn more quickly, too much oxygen and the “mishandling” of excess oxygen by the human body is believed to be a root cause of aging. Too much oxygen is toxic. We are currently constructing and testing synthetic organelles to transport and store intracellular oxygen (The Oxygen Project). These organelles are designed to act as powerful antioxidants by pooling excess oxygen and limiting its toxic effects. In addition to reducing oxygen toxicity and its adverse effects on human tissues, the organelles may promote health by facilitating delivery of oxygen to sites where disease processes have caused a decreased in local concentrations of oxygen.

IMPACT

The process of aging is simply the environment taking its toll. We are attempting to buffer the environment’s constant assault on the body and use science to channel the forces of nature into novel therapies.

Our research has broad implications for many diseases of aging including Type 2 Diabetes, Parkinson's disease, Atherosclerotic heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's disease, Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), and some types of cancer. In addition, we attempt to ask broader questions, where possible, to inspire our investigations. For example, humans are continuously exposed to increased levels of incandescent and/or fluorescent room lighting, both of which have different spectral compositions than natural light. What are the implications of this exposure, if any, for human health? In another example, we consider the evolution of antioxidative mechanisms in the eukaryotic cell to protect the cell from oxygen, the very fuel it depends upon. Are these protective mechanisms as effective as they could be? If not, how could they be improved?

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