UCLA Biologists Delay the Aging Process In Fruit Flies

An anonymous reader writes:Life scientists at UCLA have located a gene in fruit flies which, when intentionally activated, increases lifespan by about 30%. The gene (called AMPK) is normal important as an energy sensor, usually triggered by cells with low energy levels. By triggering it at other times, the researchers slowed the fruit flies' aging process (PDF), even beyond the organ system in which the triggering occurred. "Walker said that the findings are important because extending the healthy life of humans would presumably require protecting many of the body's organ systems from the ravages of aging — but delivering anti-aging treatments to the brain or other key organs could prove technically difficult. The study suggests that activating AMPK in a more accessible organ such as the intestine, for example, could ultimately slow the aging process throughout the entire body, including the brain."

Comments

Re:You've never had fruit flies?

[dave1791]

Pour vinegar into a bowl. Add a bit of liquid soap, to lower the surface tension. Place it next to the place where you have your fruit fly infestation and wait a day or two.

Re:Economic Impacts

[Anonymous Coward]

if a life extension pill can be made cheaply (its a genetic trigger protein made by gene engineered yeast, and grown in bioreactors by the tanker load). you could buy a year's supply for 20 dollars. after the patent runs up in the US at any rate.

sure it would not be easily available to the extremely poor (think Liberia), but the average american could easily afford it after the patent period runs out.