I've read through this entire thread, and I have to say it's one of the more interesting posts I've seen in the longevity space. This protocol (+variations on it) seems like a very promising route to fight many mitochondrial sources of age-related deterioration.
I was hoping to bring up a few related considerations I don't think have seen too much discussion:
1) I am pretty convinced that this protocol is quite good at increasing normal mtDNA in the body. Increased mtDNA will increase ATP production and output, which is good. However, would the increased ATP production also increase ROS production? Or would the opposite happen, due to reduced mtDNA damage? If the former, the solution would be simple enough, just add antioxidant supplementation after reaching the target amount of mtDNA. Any experiences here?
2) Partially related, a great portion of the structure and function of mitochondria comes from proteins encoded by nuclear DNA. Are there any variations on this protocol to repair mito-related nDNA that have been damaged or mutated? I would assume the quantity of such nDNA damage would also be related to the amount of ROS produced during ATP production.
3) How much is known about how damage accumulates when ATP production is insufficient? Restoring mitochondria will aid various processes in the body, but what about undoing the damage that was done before building them back up? Autophagy? Senolytics? Interested to hear more thoughts.