There is a great deal of work going on today in that area, but at that time, I didn't know a lot about mitochondria, per se. But it didn't take much imagination to figure that your DNA or your membranes could be subject to free radical attack. So basically, the paper suggested that free radicals generated by the mitochondria would kill us, so to speak. At any rate, right now, I think what's important, aside from the past history, is that there's a growing consensus that aging changes are induced by free radical reactions, largely initiated by the mitochondria, and that the rate of damage to the mitochondria determines our life span. I think that's the essence.
People still disagree with it.
But the point is that people have been going in so many different directions that a lot of people could not be brought to bear on one subject. I think that is changing now. Certainly, the free radical theory has inspired more research than any other concept in aging, there's no question about that. There are more data related to that theory than on any other subject in aging. Most facts are consistent with the theory.