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A clinical molecular biologist explains that they were tipped off that Epstein had bought a lot of frozen penguin pineal glands, which they found unusual. They back up to describe what the pineal gland is: an organ in the brain that produces serotonin, controls sleep-wake cycles, and is the site of action for hallucinogens like DMT. It is referenced in psychological research for depressive disorders, mania, schizophrenia, and even noetic topics like psychic abilities. The pineal gland is commonly known and can become calcified by fluoride; adults today have less pineal function than a century ago.
The biologist notes that penguin pineal glands have a very high concentration of the enzyme HIOMT. HIOMT is described as an organic “machine” that, given substrates, converts them into other compounds and is responsible for producing some endogenous DMT in the body. The question raised is why Epstein would want penguin pineal glands when DMT can be purchased; the implication is that the glands could be used to generate novel compounds.
In the realm of synthetic chemistry, the biologist explains a common practice: when the best synthetic route for a desired compound is unknown, researchers sometimes “throw spaghetti on the wall” by exposing HIOMT to a racemic mix of various compounds to see what products are formed. The idea is that HIOMT will act on these random substrates to produce new, uncharacterized compounds. If researchers can produce these compounds in sufficient concentrations, they can purify and separate them, and then administer them to unsuspecting people to observe effects.
The biologist speculates that the penguin pineal glands were sought for exactly this purpose—giving HIOMT a random mix of substrates to generate new compounds and then using those compounds in human research. They caution that the brain cannot tolerate excessive serotonin input because DMT interacts with the serotonin system. Prolonged or excessive serotonin input could fry neurons. The speaker suggests that if this were happening and if the resulting drugs were more potent or longer-lasting than DMT, brain damage could occur unless there was an on-the-team expert to manage oxidative stress, regulate doses, and implement breaks between doses.
Ultimately, the best guess offered is that the frozen penguin pineal glands were being used to create new drugs by exploiting HIOMT’s activity on a random substrate mix, with potential to test these compounds in humans.