How to make aging a 'fairer game' for all wormkind

In other words, trading weak, frail old age with vigorous golden years -- all without altering their diet, environment or other external factors.

The study traced the primary source of this variation to changes in the mRNA content in germline cells and somatic cells . The mRNA balance between the two types of cells is disrupted, or 'decouples', over time, causing ageing to run faster in some individuals than others. The findings are published today in the journalThe study also found that the magnitude and speed of the decoupling process is influenced by a group of at least 40 different genes.

The researchers observed the same effects on healthspan, the period of life spent healthy, rather than simply how long an individual is physically alive. The researchers measured this by studying how long the worms maintain vigorous movement. Knocking down just one of the genes was enough to disproportionately improving healthy ageing in worms on the low end of the healthspan spectrum.

The researchers made their findings by developing a method which measures RNA molecules in different cells and tissues, combining it with the 'Lifespan Machine', a device which follows the entire lives of thousands of nematodes at once. The worms live in a petri dish housed inside the machine under the watchful eye of a scanner. The device images nematodes once per hour, gathering lots of data about their behaviour.

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Researchers propose a new way to measure aging and disease risk with the protein aggregation clockCould measuring protein clumps in our cells be a new way to find out our risk of getting age-related diseases? Professor Dorothee Dormann and Professor Edward Lemke of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), who are also adjunct directors at the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) in Mainz, propose the concept of a 'protein aggregation clock'...
Source: physorg_com - 🏆 388. / 55 Read more »

Researchers propose a new way to measure aging and disease risk with the protein aggregation clockCould measuring protein clumps in our cells be a new way to find out our risk of getting age-related diseases? Professor Dorothee Dormann and Professor Edward Lemke of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU), who are also adjunct directors at the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) in Mainz, propose the concept of a 'protein aggregation clock'...
Source: physorg_com - 🏆 388. / 55 Read more »