Yoda The Mouse Turns 4

ChiralSoftware writes "Through some genetic engineering to reduce insulin output, Yoda the mouse has lived to over four years old, equivalent to 136 human years. Yoda is a third smaller than normal, and gets cold all the time so he must snuggle up with Princess Leia, his cage-mate, but he is alive and full of vigor at the ripe old age of 4. Who's next for insulin reduction?"

Comments

Yoda

[dont_think_twice]

Four years old, and he can still jump around do all those backflips? That is amazing.

Re:Yoda

[knightPhlight]

I'd be jumping around too, if I were sleeping with Princess Leia. Think golden bikini...

Longevity and diet

[FlyingOrca]

Hmm, this makes me think of long-lived individuals from Japan. Seems to me that the traditional Japanese diet would, overall, have a very low glycemic index, and that could in turn promote long life as in this mouse. Anyone know more about this?

Re:Longevity and diet

[WolfWithoutAClause]

Japanese generally eat a lot of rice- which has a pretty high glycemic index in fact; not dissimilar to bread. The Japanese average life expectancy is only a few year higher than America's.

OTOH, those living in Yokinawa often eat a lot of sweet potato. Sweet potato has a reasonably low glycemic index- the Yokinawian's live a long while; orders of magnitude more over 90.

Re:Longevity and diet

[WolfWithoutAClause]

I wonder if it's bleached or brown that they eat; probably makes a difference.

No, not terribly much. The glycemic index of white rice is 58, brown is 55 (lower is better; but this is a relatively modest difference.)

Also, a lot of people/magazines will tell you that brown bread has a lower GI than white. Whilst brown bread is higher in vitamins and minerals, it has substantially has the same GI as white (very slightly lower).

Slower metabolism = longer life?

[StateOfTheUnion]

I remember a professor in university that said that one of the easiest way to increase lifespan was to consume about 20% less . . . it would slow down the metabolism and extend one's life if practiced over a lifetime. This was theorized as the reason why some Tibetan monks typically live much longer than other people living in the same area . . .

I wonder if this mouse is doing something similar, but its been genetically engineered to be well . . . about 33% less . . .

Of Mice and Men...

[phraktyl]

Oh sure, the mouse gets a reduction in insulin, and he's still going strong after twice his normal life span.

And here, I don't produce insulin---found out I had Type I diabetes when I was 22---and do I get twice the life span? Heck no. I'll be lucky to make 50 at the rate I'm going.

What's up with that? Damned mice.

Lucky Bastard

[Aoverify]

"Yoda is still mobile, sexually active and "looking good," said Dr. Richard A. Miller"

Still sexually active? If I could live to the ripe old age of 136, I bet nobody in the world would have sex with me.

Re:Lucky Bastard

[a whoabot]

People have sex with donkeys and the dead. I'm sure you can find someone who would have sex with you.

Re:Lucky Bastard

[orthogonal]

Still sexually active? If I could live to the ripe old age of 136, I bet nobody in the world would have sex with me.

Old age had nothing to do with it.

You post on Slashdot, by age 136 you'll have had 136 years to get used to not getting sex.

come on, someone has to say it

[secolactico]

"When four years old you reach, look as good you will not. Hmm?"

That's nothing!

[flikx]

Wasn't Mr. Jingles just over 70 years old? That 4 year old mouse has a lot of catching up to do.

Natural genetic mutation, not genetic engineering!

[mrgeometry]

Audio report on this story (produced for Michigan Radio's Stateside program):

http://www.michiganradio.org/stateside.asp

Scroll down to April 9th and listen in Real Player (sorry). The relevant bit starts at the 32:00 mark. (Yeah, the whole thing is an hour long... sorry.)

Anyway, this report was produced locally here in Ann Arbor, by a friend of mine who interviewed Dr. Miller in person. The whole point is that the dwarf/long-lived mutation is in fact naturally occuring, **not** the result of genetic engineering.

(Also, the audio report suggests that the colony is much larger, but perhaps the older mice are sequestered from the rest of the colony, so the AP report might have that right; hard to say.)

zach

Insulin is the start of a long chain

[Tau Zero]

Maybe you won't have to mess with insulin, if something else further down the chain of effects (and more specific to aging) can be tweaked instead.

And don't give up on this being useful. Have you followed the rate of improvement in assays and genetic screening, not to mention the huge leap in DNA sequencing? The way things are moving, we might be able to go from discovery of the biochemical basis of slower aging to confirmation in broad populations to "dietary supplements" that will give you many of the benefits in just a few years. Certified drugs will take longer, but you'll be able to use the same tests to confirm that your supplements are having the desired effect.

How is this not in the Main section?

[Anonymous Coward]

This is a factual story that involves,

1) Star Wars,
2) A steamy encounter between Yoda and Princess Leah,

and especially

3) A genetic modification that allows sexual prowess for nearly two standard lifetimes (and counting!).

4? Big Deal

[John Hasler]

I had a pet wild mouse that made it to seven. He ran about a mile a day in his wheel, and ate mostly peanuts.