Researchers Track Gene Linked To Aging

Contradicting the conventional view that cites aging as a result of bodily wear and tear, scientists from Stanford University claim to have discovered a new angle to the aging drive. The cause of aging in human beings is the in-activeness of a worm gene called elt-3, the researchers found.

According to the latest research, when elt-3 – the worm gene – becomes inactive, other genes too react in a similar fashion, resulting in aging.

While researchers are tracking a similar aging process in animals, should they prove correct, future research may find a way of keeping these genes active - the key to prolonged youth.

"Everyone has assumed we age by rust. But then how do you explain animals that don't age?" study author Stuart Kim, a professor of developmental biology and of genetics said.

"Our data just didn't fit the current model of damage accumulation, and so we had to consider the alternative model of developmental drift," said Kim, who cited tortoises that lay eggs at 100 and whales that live to 200 years.

Although all species use the same building blocks for their DNA, - proteins and fats – it was hard to explain why species have dramatically different life spans, the study reported by Live Science online states.

Researchers studied the nematode worm, one of the most primitive living creatures. Interestingly, the differences between young and old worms that did not match the conventional picture of aging, researchers noted.

While, aging is a part of the worm’s genetic script, the elt-3 gene was an important aging gene.

‘When the elt-3 slowed down, aging picked up its pace,’ researchers noticed.

A different chemistry and DNA damage from free radicals in humans and other mammals was the key, researchers found. The damage was caused in the form of stress and inflammation.

It would be interesting to check if a similar gene activity is driving the aging process in humans too.