'Longevity' gene, diet linked
SIRT1 may play role in why calorie restriction leads to longer life in rats
Jun 17, 2004
Experiments on yeast, worms, and mammals have all revealed that cutting calories extends lifespan, but how is this occurs is largely unknown. Now, two independent studies, one reported in the June 18
"People have been studying calorie restriction for 70 years, yet the mechanism is not known," said Sinclair, adding that this new work has finally started to suggest a primary mechanism.
In the past, calorie restriction was theorized to be a passive mechanism, whereby fewer calories reduced metabolism and the oxidative stresses that come with it. But the discovery that the protein Sir2—of which SIRT1 is the mammalian orthologue—extends lifespan in yeast and worms, suggested a more...