Longevity Biomarkers Found in Mice

• Human longevity is an important aspect of pharmaceutical and medical research.
• There are many substances and dietary additives that are known to have a positive effect on human health.
• Until now little extensive research about the body mechanisms that influence longevity exists.
• A new study on mice looks at 8 different longevity interventions and compares their influence on rodent health and genes.
• Research may help us further the life span of rodents.

About the Research

An international team of scientists from Skoltech, Moscow and Harvard University is working on the research project. Their main goal is to discover what influences the longevity of rodents. After the initial step is complete, they will look at how this knowledge can help us extend human lives as well.

The main point of the study is to examine what pharmaceutical and dietary interventions produce longevity biomarkers. That is where the 8 interventions come into play. As they are the substances that help with longevity, or so we believe.

The research is done on mice, as they have a similar organism to our own. However, the pharmaceutical and dietary supplements in the study are for human use. After we identify how the supplements influence the rodents, we can extend the study to human organisms as well.

The findings from this study are in the journal Cell Metabolism and you can find the article if you follow this link.

What are longevity biomarkers?

To put it simply longevity biomarkers are the genetic and physiological response of the organism to certain metabolic influences. That is, the body sometimes gives us feedback that we can read to understand how something is influencing it.

The scientists from Skoltech and Harvard University gave the interventions to the mice. Afterward, they looked at the genetic response of the organism for all 8 substances. Those interventions that have a positive effect produced the longevity biomarkers. Because of this experiment, we now know about 17 genetic biomarkers. They will help us identify which of the longevity interventions actually work.

Limitations

• The research was done on mice, further research on other organisms is needed. Otherwise, the findings will give us little practical insight that can be implemented for human treatment.
• The research shows that there are certain substances that cause longevity. However, we do not know the exact biochemical pathways that cause this effect.

Sources

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-08/sios-sh082319.php

https://www.skoltech.ru/en/2019/08/scientists-have-found-longevity-biomarkers/