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Philanthropy For Basic Science:
Longevity Genes THE SEARCH FOR GENES that extend lifespan and control important aspects of aging has been one of the most active areas of aging research. With a blossoming of new resources and technologies, including the Human Genome Project, RNA interference, and high throughput screening, researchers have identified scores of genes that appear to extend lifespan in the laboratory organisms that serve as models of human aging — yeast, nematodes, fruit flies and mice. But knowing that particular genes influence lifespan doesn't necessarily tell us how those genes produce their effects. Increasingly, researchers have sought to figure out the biochemical pathways that lead to longer, healthier life and to understand the interplay between longevity genes, other genes, hormones and environmental factors, such as caloric restriction, which have been linked to lifespan extension in several species. One theme emerging from the work is how highly conserved some aging-related functions are throughout evolutionary history, from yeast to human. Another is that studies of genes that influence lifespan may provide important clues to preventing characteristic illnesses of age, such as cancer and Alzheimer's disease, and to alleviating the physical and mental degeneration that so often makes a torment of old age. Some Ellison Medical Foundation Scholars already have played a major role in uncovering genetic influences on aging, helping to create a new field of knowledge in the process. The Ellison Medical Foundation continues to fund a full range of research, from yeast to human populations, in this centrally important biological arena.
| "Our ultimate goal is not simply to extend life but to extend the disease-free period of our lives. In fact, calorie-restricted animals not only live longer but they also remain relatively free of the common ailments of old age, including osteoporosis and cancer." - David A. Sinclair | | | |
Articles related to Longevity Genes A Passion for Puzzles
Just after she won the Nobel Prize in 2004, Linda Buck was asked about childhood influences that helped bring her to that day. She replied that her father, an electronic engineer, did a lot of tinkering and her mother, a homemaker, was obsessed with puzzles.
Playing With The Possibilities
"If this keeps accelerating, and I think it will, in 10 or 15 years, we won't be twice as far along, we'll be 100 times as far along — and that will lead to things that will make a difference. Resveratrol and hormonal signaling mechanisms are the tip of the iceberg, and they are going to take us to a place were we'll be able to manage age morbidity."
Related Projects | Yeast | Shiv I.S. Grewal, PhD
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
New Scholar in Aging 1999
Heterochromatin Assembly and Replicative Lifespan in Fission Yeast | David A. Sinclair, PhD
Harvard Medical School
New Scholar in Aging 2001
Identification of Genes and Compounds that Extend Yeast Lifespan | Antonio Bedalov, MD, PhD
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
New Scholar in Aging 2002
Chemical Genetic Approaches to Aging | | C. elegans | Cynthia Kenyon, PhD
University of California at San Francisco
Senior Scholar in Aging 1998
Analysis of Genes That Control Aging in C. elegans | Gary Ruvkun, PhD
Harvard Medical School
Senior Scholar in Aging 1998
Exploration of the C. elegans Insulin-Like Aging Pathway | Pamela L. Larsen, PhD
University of California at Los Angeles, then The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Senior Scholar in Aging 2001
Catherine Clarke, PhD
University of California - Los Angeles
Senior Scholar in Aging 2001
Intersection of Two Pathways in Control of Aging: Nutritional Coenzyme Q and DAF-2 Signaling | Linda B. Buck, PhD
Harvard Medical School, then Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Senior Scholar in Aging 2000
A High Throughput Screen for Longevity Genes | Stuart Kim, PhD
Stanford University Medical Center
Senior Scholar in Aging 2002
Genomic Approaches to Studying Aging in C. elegans | | Drosophila | Stewart Frankel, PhD
Yale University School of Medicine
New Scholar in Aging 1999
The Regulation of Chromosomes and Longevity | Seymour Benzer, PhD
California Institute of Technology
Senior Scholar in Aging 1998
Life Extension Genes in Drosophila | Thomas Kornberg, PhD
University of California at San Francisco
Senior Scholar in Aging 2000
Toward a Comprehensive Assessment of Gene Expression During Development and Aging of Drosophila | Kyung-Tai Min, PhD
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health
New Scholar in Aging 2001
Life Extension of Drosophila by a Drug Treatment | Stephen Helfand, MD
University of Connecticut Health Center
Senior Scholar in Aging 2001
Genetic Dissection of Aging in Drosophila | Daniel Promislow, DPhil
University of Georgia
Senior Scholar in Aging 2002
Gene-Gene Interactions, Gene Networks and Aging in Natural Population of Drosophila | Marc Tatar, PhD
Brown University
New Scholar in Aging 2000
Neuroendocrine Regulation of Aging in Drosophila | | Budgerigar | Steven N. Austad, PhD
University of Idaho, then The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Senior Scholar in Aging 1999
Genetic Mechanisms of Exceptional Oxidative Damage Resistance in Birds | | Mouse | Leonard P. Guarente, PhD
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Senior Scholar in Aging 1998
Molecular Analysis of Mammalian Aging | Thomas E. Johnson, PhD
University of Colorado at Boulder
Senior Scholar in Aging 1998
Identification of Gerontogenes in the Mouse | Gretchen J. Darlington, PhD
Baylor College of Medicine
Senior Scholar in Aging 1999
Identification of Candidate Genes for Longevity in Long-Lived Mouse Models | Peter J. Hornsby, PhD
Baylor College of Medicine, then The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Senior Scholar in Aging 2000
Cell Transplantation Models for Gene Action in Human Aging | Mark Mayford, PhD
Scripps Research Institute
Senior Scholar in Aging 2001
Mutagenic Screen for Longevity Genes in Mice | James F. Nelson, PhD
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
Senior Scholar in Aging 2002
Rapid Screening for Longevity Mutants in Mice | | Human | Louis Kunkel, PhD
Harvard Medical School
Senior Scholar in Aging 1998
Thomas T. Perls, MD. MPH
Boston Medical Center
Senior Scholar in Aging 1998
Exploring the Genetics of Extreme Longevity | Luca Cavalli-Sforza, MD
Stanford University School of Medicine
Senior Scholar in Aging 1998
Genes Controlling Longevity in Centenarians | Nir Barzilai, MD
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Senior Scholar in Aging 2000
Identification of Longevity Genes in Founder Populations |
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