Could We Live 800 Years?

Immortality and eternal youth has always been the dream of the humankind. What about a lifespan of 800 years? Yeasts can do it, in their world, if experience a specific mutation. This is the result of a research published in PLoS Genetics by a team at the University of Southern California.

They prolonged the lifespan of yeast fungus tenfold (from one week to 10 weeks) by playing with two genes and restricting caloric intake, without any apparent side effect. This is a step closer to controlling the lifespan of the cell.

"We're setting the foundation for reprogramming healthy life," said lead researcher Valter Longo of the University of Southern California.

His team put baker's yeast on a calorie-restricted diet and eliminated two genes (RAS2 and SCH9) known to promote aging in yeast and cancer growth in humans.

"We got a 10-fold life span extension that is, I think, the longest one that has ever been achieved in any organism," said Longo.

"I would say 10-fold is pretty significant. The NIA funds such research in the hope of extending healthy life span in humans through the development of drugs that mimic the life-prolonging techniques used by Longo and others," said Anna McCormick, chief of the genetics and cell biology branch at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and Longo's program officer.

The simplicity - and complexity, at the same time - of the procedure has allowed the finding of important genes and metabolic pathways to control aging and disease in mice and other mammals. The research team is going to investigate the effect of the removal of these genes on the mice's lifespan.

In fact, the team has already spotted an Ecuadorian human population carrying mutations that disable the RAS2 and SCH9 genes, but they come with severe growth and health issues.

"People with two copies of the mutations have very small stature and other defects. We are now identifying the relatives with only one copy of the mutation, who are apparently normal. We hope that they will show a reduced incidence of diseases and an extended life span," said Longo.