Monday, October 03, 2005

New Lifespan Extension Genes Found

New genes tied to lifespan extension in yeast have been identified by researchers from UC Davis and Harvard Medical School.

Drastically reducing calorie intake, or caloric restriction, is known to extend the lifespan of species including yeast, worms and rodents. Previous research linked a gene called Sir2 with lifespan extension due to caloric restriction, but worms and yeast that lack Sir2 also live longer when put on a tough diet, showing that some other genes must be at work.

Researchers led by David Sinclair at Harvard Medical School and Su-Ju Lin at UC Davis' Center for Genetics and Development and Section of Microbiology screened for other life-extending genes in yeast. They found a gene called Hst2 that accounts for most of the difference.

link from UCdavis.com

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