I prefer to think of aging as a slow graceful process, occurring over years. Well, that may not be so, say researchers at Northwestern University. Their studies in flatworms called C. Elegans have uncovered particular genetic switches that turn on the aging process. You may be thinking, what the heck do worms have to do […]
Forgetting is something that many of us worry about as we get older. Then we start to wonder if we are getting Alzheimer’s disease or something else. Relax. It probably isn’t Alzheimer’s, but the natural way our brain ages. The brain cells called neurons lose their connections between each other that can cause long term […]
There have been several research studies on calorie restricted diets and living longer. Rats were the first to live 50% longer if they had less calories. This was also common to Fruit flies, and C. Elegans, little round worms. As it turns out, this is a bit of a conundrum, especially when we are talking […]
It appears so! Worms (C. elegans) that are only 1 mm long could help in the treatment of kidney disease that is age related!!! A gene protein named Klotho, which kind of sounds like a Muppet name is the key genetic player that worms and humans have in common. Not that it is the “Fountain […]
Did you know Science Magazine has an award for vertebrate of the year? Neither did I! But with the latest increase in popularity of an ugly, naked, insect-like behaving rodent in bio medical research I think the award is well deserved for the naked mole rat. I knew little of these creatures until they came […]