The Oldest Humans Have the Secret to Long and Healthy Lives
It’s in their genes, especially those that code for basic functions of life like metabolism. C. elegans has helped us discover genes and molecular paths, including insulin-like growth factors 1 (IGF-1), which extends healthy lifespan in mice, yeast and flies (and perhaps even us). Too nerdy? These pathways have also inspired a massive interest from scientists and the public in metformin and hormones. They’ve even inspired interest in intermittent fasting and ketogenic diet. Recap: Worms inspired us to search for our fountain of youth.
This is just one example of a success story. What relevance do those genes have for humans? We are a bit of a freak. We age for many years and experience a variety of age-related diseases. Diabetes. Diabetes. Dementia. Interestingly, many of these conditions never occur in animals or worms. There is clearly something wrong.
A team of global scientists argue in this month’s Nature Metabolism that it is time to stop being worms and start becoming humans. They say that the key to human longevity lies in centenarians’ genes. They also suffer less from age-related diseases. They are healthy until the very last moment. If evolution were a scientist, centenarians and the rest us would be two experimental groups.
Source:
The Secret to a Long, Healthy Life Is in the Genes of the Oldest Humans Alive
