By Xinhua
Beijing : Scientists searching for the secret to eternal life have extended the lifespan of yeast — microbes used to make bread and beer — by 10-fold, twice the previous record for prolonging life in an organism.
Instead of one week, the yeast lived for about 10 weeks through genetic alteration and a low-calorie diet.
“We’ve reprogrammed the healthy life of an organism,” said Valter Longo, a biologist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles who led the life-prolonging experiments.
Longo and his colleagues detail their findings in two upcoming studies; one in the Jan. 25 issue of the journal PLoS Genetics and another in the Jan. 14 issue of the Journal of Cell Biology.
“Evolution designed our genes, our army, to be ready for growth and reproduction,” Longo told LiveScience. Problem is, pooling the body’s efforts into growing makes room for genetic errors that lead to age-related disease. “We can use our energy to grow and reproduce, or protect ourselves.”
Longo and his team previously found two genes — RAS2 and SCH9 — related to growth and development of cancer that are similar in humans and yeast. They are so alike, in fact, that Longo said, “you can put the human gene in yeast and it works.”
The scientists disabled the genes in the yeast but also put the organism on a low-calorie diet. Caloric restriction has prolonged the lifespan of yeast, worms, and mice in other experiments, and is thought to work by scaring the body into maintaining its genetic goods instead of growing.
Combining both age-fighting approaches, Longo said, led to a dramatically long lease on life.
“We expected a small boost in longevity, but not a 10-fold increase,” he said. “It’s remarkable.”