It turns out that having children at an advanced age won't kill you - instead, it might mean you'll live up to 30 % longer than average. Go, you cougar!A group of researchers in the University of California system discovered this odd fact by studying the genetic makeup of flies who lay eggs late in their lives. There's a chance their discovery could lead to a simple gene therapy for human women that would extend their childbearing years and their lifespans. Or they may turn into flies.
The researchers found two fly genes, known as magu and hebe, that are responsible for causing older female flies to continue laying eggs. And they noticed that when those genes "over-express," or go into overdrive, that they also extend the natural lifespan of the flies by up to 30 percent. Humans have a gene, SMOC2, which is similar to the magu gene, so it's possible that these findings will be relevant to humans as well. Scientists already know of reliable ways to make genes over-express.
The two scientists who conducted the research are publishing the results this month in Molecular Genetics and Genomics, which I'm sure you all subscribe to. They suggest that hebe and magu genes have life-extending effects because they promote the formation of stem cells. Yes, the same stem cells the religious right hates keep bodies young and are also crucial to reproductive health. So when hebe and magu over-express, they stimulate the growth of new stem cells, and that has a cascade effect on the body's youthfulness. In their study, it would appear stimulation prompts the stem cells to divide more in the old fly and therefore produce more offspring. It both makes females lay more eggs and live longer, so it really argues against any kind of obligatory tradeoff between reproduction and lifespan.
No comments:
Post a Comment