Researchers flip the switch between development and aging in C. elegans
Tuesday, July 5, 2011 - 11:31
in Biology & Nature
When researchers at the Buck Institute dialed back activity of a specific mRNA translation factor in adult nematode worms they saw an unexpected genome-wide response that effectively increased activity in specific stress response genes that could help explain why the worms lived 40 percent longer under this condition. The study, appearing in the July 6, 2011 edition of Cell Metabolism, highlights the importance of mRNA translation in the aging process. mRNA translation occurs after genetic messages have been transcribed in cells, when the encoded messages of genes are actually translated into functional proteins.