A team of researchers from the Institute of Cell Biology at the University of Bern, in Switzerland, coordinated by Eduardo Moreno, has managed to considerably extend the life expectancy of some flies.
As detailed in an essay published in the journal Cell , in essence these scientists have developed a method that selects, so to speak, the best cells in the body and excludes the most damaged. “Our bodies are made up of tens of trillions of cells. As we age, they accumulate operating errors due to different factors, from stress to the ultraviolet rays that we receive from the Sun. However, these failures neither affect all of them at the same time nor do they affect them with the same intensity.
This led us to think that if we were able to select the least affected and eliminate the most damaged, we could maintain the health of the tissues for longer, and thereby delay aging and prolong life expectancy ”, Moreno reasons.
To test their idea, the researchers used fruit flies , Drosophila melanogaster , a species whose genome is known and is widely used in research. In them they identified a gene, which is also present in humans, whose function is to selectively “mark” the most damaged or least adequate cells to protect the integrity and health of the organs.
Normally, there are two copies of this gene in every cell. By inserting a third, the scientists were able to select the best cells more efficiently . The result was that the tissues of these Diptera remained in better condition for a longer time and their life expectancy increased between 50% and 60% compared to that of normal flies.
These experts hope that, in the future, their study will serve to devise new strategies to combat aging in people and the diseases associated with this process.
