Editing One Gene Extends Mouse Life Expectancy by 23%

Modifying One Gene Allows Mice to Live 23% Longer

By modifying just one gene, researchers were able to extend the life expectancy of mice by 23%, and they think their results may translate to humans.

www.freethink.com

y modifying just one gene, an international team of researchers was able to extend the life expectancy of mice by 23% — and they think their results may translate to humans.

"The change in life expectancy is significant, when you consider that an equivalent jump in human life expectancy would have us living on average until almost 120," lead researcher Haim Cohen of Bar-Ilan University told the Times of Israel.

A longer life: The average human life expectancy has doubled in just the past 200 years, thanks in no small part to scientific breakthroughs in medicine, nutrition, and disease.

Future breakthroughs might allow us to live decades (or even centuries) longer, and across the globe, scientists are pursuing promising leads in the hunt for the proverbial fountain of youth.

Genetic clue: One of those leads is the sirtuin 6 (SIRT6) gene. Past research has linked the protein produced by this "longevity gene" to healthy aging and longer life expectancy, but the exact nature of that link isn't entirely clear.

To better understand the connection, Cohen's team genetically modified mice so that their SIRT6 genes would produce higher-than-normal levels of the protein.

The results: Not only did the genetically modified mice have a 23% longer life expectancy than wild mice, they also appeared to stay healthy longer.

Older modified mice chose to spend more time on the running wheels in their cages, and they ran faster and longer distances. They were also able to overcome age-related diseases, such as cancer and blood disorders, more readily.

Why it matters: Analysis suggests that increasing SIRT6 appeared to allow older mice to generate energy from sources they'd normally have trouble tapping into at their age, such as fats and lactic acid.

"This discovery, combined with our previous findings, shows that SIRT6 controls the rate of healthy aging," Cohen said in a press release.

"If we can determine how to activate it in humans, we will be able to prolong life."
HAIM COHEN

"If we can determine how to activate it in humans, we will be able to prolong life, and this could have enormous health and economic implications."

The next steps: Cohen's team hopes to use what it learned from the mice to develop a drug that could extend the life expectancy of humans by boosting the gene's activity.

"We are developing small molecules that may increase the levels (of) SIRT6, or make existing amounts of the protein more active," he said. "They may be used in the future to address aging."

 

[Product Placement]

I'd rather have higher quality of life for longer.

 

[somethingmcsomething]

I don't know. I'm middle aged and already shit is starting to fall apart, and days seem like minutes, and the people in the world increasingly freak me out. I'm not interested in this.
However, if I can get my dog's life doubled,I'm all in.

 

[Adolphin]

Dr. Sinclair's book is a pretty good intro. to the state of aging research, albeit heavily biased, quite possibly rationally, in favor of the importance/supremacy of NMN/NAD+ boosting drugs but in the meanwhile you can get most of the benefits by following the 16/8 diet (i.e. limiting all your energy intake to an 8 hour daily window, ideally less) and trying to fast a few days straight every month or so. The evidence for calorie restriction being good for health is utterly invincible -- for longevity in humans, pretty compelling.

Metformin taken in middle-age will probably buy you a couple extra years of healthy life, too -- a lot of aging is caused by glycation from blood glucose, obviously being worse the higher your levels.

There are also all sorts of other promising things in the pipeline -- it's quite remarkable how much progress has been made the last couple decades with barely a word of it in the media.

Could you please elaborate on the usage of Metformin for anti-ageing purposes?

 

[Johan Schmidt]

These always make me laugh. They're interesting in their implications and tend towards helping us understand how aging occurs, but they are always clearly the result of writing to try and get grants.
"What are we going to say this research does to ensure we get money dave?"
'Makes you immortal.'
"Yeah, that'll do it."

 

[Billy Beer]

What happens if you edit TWO genes? Do you get Splinter?

 

[Underestimated Nutria]

Could you please elaborate on the usage of Metformin for anti-ageing purposes?

Just read this:

Benefits of Metformin in Attenuating the Hallmarks of Aging

Metformin has been known for a while to increase lifespan/healthspan in a variety of animals and the TAME study discussed here gives good evidence that humans are no exception. So metformin, which I think came onto the market in the mid-90s, would be the first (albeit unintended) anti-aging drug: previous to this, there was only caloric restriction and not actively sabotaging yourself with obesity, etc.

Metformin's mechanism of action is going to turn out to be pretty complex and multifactorial but the reverse of its intended use (that is, high glucose, since it was a drug developed for diabetics) has also long been known to contribute to aging -- so reduced glycation is going to be a sizeable part of the puzzle, though it's also anti-inflammatory, etc.

 

[Adolphin]

Just read this:

Benefits of Metformin in Attenuating the Hallmarks of Aging

Metformin has been known for a while to increase lifespan/healthspan in a variety of animals and the TAME study discussed here gives good evidence that humans are no exception. So metformin, which I think came onto the market in the mid-90s, would be the first (albeit unintended) anti-aging drug: previous to this, there was only caloric restriction and not actively sabotaging yourself with obesity, etc.

Metformin's mechanism of action is going to turn out to be pretty complex and multifactorial but the reverse of its intended use (that is, high glucose, since it was a drug developed for diabetics) has also long been known to contribute to aging -- so reduced glycation is going to be a sizeable part of the puzzle, though it's also anti-inflammatory, etc.

Is it safe for someone who is not diabetic to just take medicine that is intended for diabetics? Does not the danger of hypoglycemia exist?

 

[Underestimated Nutria]

Is it safe for someone who is not diabetic to just take medicine that is intended for diabetics? Does not the danger of hypoglycemia exist?

I don't think hypoglycaemia is a concern but I would want to research the optimal time of life (as best as can be determined at this early stage, anyway) to begin taking it -- I wouldn't be surprised if the risk/side effect profile is not such that it's not worth taking until middle-age or so. This is the case with a lot of the promising-looking drugs being explored now. But ... metformin is still pretty darn safe.

If you can control your appetite though, you can get even (actually much) greater benefits by only eating in a small time window every day.

@Adolphin

I made a post here

https://embed.kiwifarms.st/threads/...ing-trans-student-who-died.92235/page-2#posts

admittedly after taking my sleeping pills for the night that may effect its coherency, but it discusses NMDA antagonists (actually, methadone, believe it or not, which does this in addition to its effects as a mu opioid agonist) as cardioprotective (e.g. halving heart attacks in junkies compared to what would be expected for their age, smoking status, other demographic information). This is very new but if anti-aging interests you then it's pretty crazy awesome to know there's a good now well-suspect route to stopping a large fraction of America's biggest cause of mortality.