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Yoda The Mouse Turns 4

Posted by timothy on from the beats-dog-years dept.

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?"

6 of 61 comments (clear)

  1. Longevity and diet by FlyingOrca · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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?

    --
    Corruptissima re publica plurimae leges.
  2. Lucky Bastard by Aoverify · · Score: 5, Funny

    "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.

    1. Re:Lucky Bastard by orthogonal · · Score: 5, Funny

      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.

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      Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
  3. come on, someone has to say it by secolactico · · Score: 5, Funny

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

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    No sig
  4. Natural genetic mutation, not genetic engineering! by mrgeometry · · Score: 4, Informative

    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

  5. Re:Yoda by knightPhlight · · Score: 4, Funny

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