BATON ROUGE - Many middle school science students might remember the phrase "the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell," but studies show that if it's enhanced, that powerhouse may help humans may live longer.

A study at Pennington Biomedical Research Center has found that BAM15 — a chemical compound that is a mitochondrial uncoupler — can expand lifespans in fruit flies. Researchers Dr. John Kirwan, Dr. Christopher Axelrod and Dr. Wagner Dantas have been conducting research into BAM15 and prolonging life since 2020.

The study's new findings believe that BAM15 can extend lifespans in fruit flies, where BAM15 was associated with less body fat and increased muscle function.

Previous Pennington Biomedical research demonstrated that BAM15 — which is a mitochondrial stimulant when exposed to fruit flies —can potentially bring protection against obesity, diabetes, cancer and chronic diseases by improving mitochondrial and cellular function.

"Thinking of it as a human, we all want to be healthy when we’re older," Axelrod said. "Most people don’t want to be 85 years old and bedridden, unable to do their activities of daily living. So, a part of thinking about living longer to us is living healthier. So, the way we tested that was we were looking at how well the flies move, and what we could find is that as they aged, the flies that were exposed to BAM15 moved better and they were more fit physically."

The end goal with BAM15 research is that it could be used pharmacologically or even in instances like blood transfusions but mitochondrial transfusions.

"But maybe another more radical way to think about it is mitochondrial transfer," Axelrod said. "So, maybe we could actually make more fit mitochondria and then provide it to someone who has weak or damaged mitochondria, the same way we do blood transfusions or cell therapies. So, the sky is the limit."