Scientists zeroing in on possible “anti-aging” gene

<body leftmargin="0" bgcolor="#000060" text="#FFFFFF" link="#FFFF00" vlink="#FF9900"> <b> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="4">Scientists zeroing in on possible “anti-aging” gene</font></p> </b> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="1">Posted Oct. 25, 2004<br> Special to World Science</font> <b> <font size="2" face="Arial"><br> <br> </font><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt"><font face="Arial" size="2">Scientists have found a possible anti-aging gene whose activity may dramatically extend animal lifespans. In the process, the researchers have provided indirect evidence that a chemical found in red wine, resveratrol – which stimulates that gene – might help us live longer.</font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">Tests to determine whether this is true in humans haven’t yet been done. The new findings, announced today, were made using humble fruit flies as test animals. But the researchers are increasingly hopeful that the findings might hold true across the animal kingdom, including humans. <o:p> </o:p> </span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">This is because scientists had previously shown that the putative anti-aging gene – called Sir2 – works similarly in a wide range of creatures of increasing complexity. The new research represents the first time such findings have been made in animals. <o:p> </o:p> </span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">And because fruit flies share nearly 60 percent of their genes with humans, it enhances the chances that a similar mechanism may operate in humans, researchers suggested. </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt">“Agents that stimulate the activity of Sir2 are potential tools for extending life span” in all multicellular creatures, the researchers wrote in this week’s online editions of the <i>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</i>, the research journal where they presented their findings. <o:p> </o:p> </span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt">The researchers, Blanka Rogina and Stephen L. Helfand of the University of Connecticut Health Center, </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">created a mutant flies whose version of the Sir2 gene was much more active than it is in normal flies. Genes produce proteins, molecules which have some function or the other in the body. Thus, a “more active” gene is one that produces more of the protein that it is resonsible for.<o:p> </o:p> </span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt">The flies with overactive Sir2 lived up to 57 percent longer than normal flies, the researchers reported. Resveratrol, the chemical found in the skin of grapes and in red wine, has also been found to boost Sir2 activity in organisms as diverse as humans, fruit flies and yeast, they wrote. Resveratrol has also been found to help protect the heart and reduce prostate cancer risk.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt"><o:p> </o:p> </span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt">The discoveries are rooted in observations made decades ago: that, oddly, the one reliable way to increase lifespan in many organisms is to keep them on a near-starvation diet. </span></font></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt">Since then, researchers have been looking for ways to get the gain without the pain. <o:p> </o:p> </span></font></p> <font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 9.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Times New Roman; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Eventually scientists found that the type of extremely low-calorie diets needed to extend lifespans are linked </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Times New Roman; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">to an increase in activity of Sir2. This gene’s protein product helps cells to conduct activities that biologists refer to as “packing” and “unpacking” DNA. These moves are crucial parts of a cell’s life cycle as it makes preparations for doubling itself, as well as shortly after the doubling.</span></font> </b> <p> <b> <font size="2" face="Arial"><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/world-science">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/world-science</a></font> </b> </p> </body>