X-Message-Number: 2480 From: whscad1!kqb (Kevin Q Brown +1 201 386 7344) Subject: CRYONICS Nematode Lifespan and Death Genes Message #2469 ("Anti-Aging Gene") reported some intriguing recent progress toward identifying the genetics of some aging mechanisms. Here are some more glimpses of progress, which I snipped from the sci.life-extension news group. Kevin Q. Brown INTERNET or PS: Can anyone on this list provide more references to the "Mortality I" and "Mortality II" genes mentioned below? (Is this related to the work of Dr. Michael West? Message #221 from Sept. 1990 briefly mentioned him and I know he has made further progress since then but I lost the pointers to his more recent work.) ---- > Newsgroups: sci.life-extension > From: (Brian Manning Delaney) > Subject: Re: Nematode lifespan genetically doubled > Date: Tue, 7 Dec 1993 17:55:05 GMT In article <> (Joe Strout .. Miami University, Oxford OH) writes: >From the Dec. 4 _Science News_, reporting on an article in the Dec. 2 >_Nature_: > >A mutation in a gene called daf-2 allows nematodes (C. elegans) to >live more than twice as long, and they remain healthy and active as >young nematodes until a few days before their death. The gene daf-16 >is also needed for the daf-2 mutation to have effect, indicating that >both genes play a role in aging. It's suspected that daf-2 controlles >many genes which affect longevity, but the research offers hope that >the whole picture of aging in the nematode may soon be unravelled. >Since both genes are involved in weathering harsh environmental >conditions, the scientists suspect that this effect may be related to >the reduced-calorie effect. Similar work has been going on w/human cells in vitro. In this case, the genes are "death genes" (called Mortality I and Mortality II). If both of these genes are shut off, the cells live forever. The trick is doing this in vivo w/o causing cancer (that's a very big trick). Researchers have also found in human cells something that looks like a longevity gene found recently in yeast, which, in yeast, at least, greatly extends life span. It's conceivable that some of this work will have practical applications to humans in a few years, though most likely it's a longer way off than that. ---- Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=2480