Name: Experiments that hint of longer lives
Uploaded: 2011-11-17T16:03:54Z
Duration: 16 min 6 s
Description: What controls aging? Biochemist Cynthia Kenyon has found a simple genetic mutation that can double the lifespan of a simple worm, C. elegans. The lessons from that discovery, and others, are pointing to how we might one day significantly extend youthful human life.

What controls aging? Biochemist Cynthia Kenyon has found a simple genetic mutation that can double the lifespan of a simple worm, C. elegans. The lessons from that discovery, and others, are pointing to how we might one day significantly extend youthful human life.

Experiments that hint of longer lives

A single gene mutation in tiny C. elegans worms can double their lifespan, while leaving them healthy and active. Research reveals that hormone pathways, similar to those controlling insulin in humans, directly influence how quickly we age. People with certain genetic variants, found more often in centenarians, show hints that these same mechanisms impact human longevity. By targeting these genes and proteins, scientists are exploring ways to delay both aging and the diseases that come with it.