As the baby boomer generation approaches retirement and the “2030 problem” (i.e. caring for this doubling elderly population) looms large, increasing emphasis has been put upon research that will help people age more gracefully—and more gradually.
Scientists and doctors alike suggest that you can take control of your fate by drinking red wine and eating less. Exercise is also, obviously, key. Now, however, gene therapies (which don’t require work on your part) might be able to prevent aging, as well.
Scientists at the University of Washington found and began to tinker with a group of genes that turns on roundworms’ hypoxic response (the process by which cells continue to produce energy when deprived of oxygen—what brain cells do, for instance, in the case of a stroke). They discovered that if they altered the genes so that the response stayed constantly “on,” the worms lived longer, healthier lives. Lead researcher Matt Kaeberlin hypothesizes that the reaction may encourage cells’ glucose metabolization and assist stress resistance.
Read Kaeberlein’s latest research, published in Science, May 2009.1
Check out Kaeberlein’s ongoing research on his laboratory website.
1 Mehta, R., Steinkraus, K., Sutphin, G., Ramos, F., Shamieh, L., Huh, A., Davis, C., Chandler-Brown, D., & Kaeberlein, M. (2009). Proteasomal Regulation of the Hypoxic Response Modulates Aging in C. elegans Science, 324 (5931), 1196-1198 DOI: 10.1126/science.1173507
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