Double use
Genetic manipulations that more than double life expectancy lead to better offspring
Dmitry Mazalev, Naked Science
An international team of researchers studied a gene known as DAF-2, which is associated with aging in roundworms (Caenorhabditis elegans), and found that by reducing the expression of this gene, they could not only increase the life expectancy of the worm, but also improve its offspring. According to the lead author of the article Alexey Maklakov, understanding how and why we age is fundamental to improving the quality of life in an increasingly long-lived society.
"There is an opinion that we age because of the slow accumulation of unrecoverable cellular damage in our body, and aging itself is the result of an energetic "compromise" between growth, reproduction and survival. But now we know that disabling the function of certain genes in adulthood can increase life expectancy without the cost of reproduction," says the scientist (in a press release Long–lived parents produce better quality offspring - VM).
An article published in the journal Evolution Letters says that the genes responsible for aging help to grow and reproduce at an early age. However, at a later age, this function begins to cause problems. If this is the case, then we will be able to stay young longer by reducing the high level of gene signaling or "turning off" these genes at a certain period of life.
DAF-2, the insulin receptor gene, plays a key role in the signaling pathway of insulin and insulin–like growth factor 1 (IFG-1) in roundworms Caenorhabditis elegans. The IGF-1 signaling pathway controls the growth, reproduction and lifespan of the organism, and reducing IGF-1 signaling increases life expectancy in many animals. Since the function of DAF-2 is important for development and reproduction at an early age, the team allowed the worms to develop and reach reproductive maturity before "disabling" the gene.
"As expected, we found that the worms lived more than twice as long when the IGF-1 exposure that aged them was reduced. It is noteworthy that in addition, their offspring were healthier and produced more offspring themselves. In fact, the results show that natural selection optimizes gene expression at an early age, but is not strong enough to optimize gene expression at a later age," experts say.
According to them, such results make it possible to kill two birds with one stone, not only improving the health and longevity of parents, but also positively affecting offspring, which challenges the classical idea that aging is always associated with the distribution of energy between survival and reproduction.
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