How deleting genes may be the answer to living longer

IF YOU’RE after the key to living longer, the answer may lie in removing your genes, according to new scientific research.

IF YOU’RE after the key to living longer, the answer may lie in removing your genes.

After a 10-year study, American researchers revealed ‘switching off’ certain genes in yeast, such as LOS1, could increase its lifespan by 60 per cent.

The LOS1 gene is linked to a genetic master switch which has long been associated with calorie restriction through fasting and increased lifespan.

The genes that were present in the yeast, are also found in mammals, including humans, suggesting their removal could increase our lifespan.

“Almost half of the genes we found that affect ageing are conserved in mammals,” lead author Dr Brian Kennedy said.

“In theory, any of these factors could be therapeutic targets to extend healthspan. What we have to do now is figure out which ones are amenable to targeting.”

Researchers examined 4,698 strains of yeast, each with a single gene deletion and then monitored how long cells lived for before they stopped dividing.

But preventive health expert Dr Ross Walker told news.com.au a study like this is still many years away from finding the answer to living longer.

“There is no evidence that this will work in humans. We are years away from finding out if this will work in humans,” he said.

“The study was only done in yeast. The problem is, we have 25,000 genes in our body. We have 1,000 more than rodents. It’s not all about genes, there’s other aspects as well.”

“We cant always extrapolate animal and yeast in labs to the human fields, because we are significantly different. What may effect yeast, may not effect humans,” he said.