X-Message-Number: 10681
Date: Mon, 02 Nov 1998 19:36:22 -0500
From: Jan Coetzee <>
Subject: Stress and long live

                Long lives and resilient flies
                The greater the physical stress that animals are able to
withstand,
                the longer they tend to live. Researchers developed a
mutant line
                of flies called methuselah that live 35% longer than
ordinary
                flies. The mutant flies are also able to withstand
starvation, high
                temperature, and oxidative stress better. The gene
encoded a
                protein that resembled signaling proteins, offering a
rare insight
                into the molecular mechanisms of stress resistance.



                    Reference: Lin, Y.-J., Seroude, L., and Benzer, S.
                    1998. Extended life-span and stress resistance in
the
                    Drosophila mutant methuselah. Science
                    282(5390):943-946

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