Genetics / The lifespan of yeast with five copies of the PNC1 gene was 70% longer than that of normal yeast
Lior Kodner
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For thousands of years humans have been trying to understand why one person's lifespan can be significantly longer than another's.
The scientific hypotheses that explain the phenomenon have so far been divided into two: the environmental factor and the genetic factor. Researchers advocating the environmental explanation believe that a person's immediate environment - his living conditions and nutritional components - significantly affects the length of life. On the other hand, the second approach holds that a person's lifespan is already determined at birth as part of his genetic load.
Now American researchers claim to have found clues that support the second approach. In a genetic study they conducted, researchers from the Howard University School of Medicine discovered a gene that affects the lifestyle of yeast. According to Dr. David Sinclair, who headed the research team, the finding will make it possible to locate similar genes in humans as well.
In an article published yesterday in the journal "Nature", the researchers focused on the PNC1 gene. In the study, it became clear that the lifespan of yeast with five copies of the gene was 70% higher than the lifespan of normal yeast with one copy of the gene. The gene - which regulates the production of vitamin B3 in the body - is sensitive to heat, the amount of salt in the body and nutritional compositions. According to the researchers, it even determines the lifespan of the yeast, in a way that is not yet completely clear.
Many of the genes discovered so far in yeast also exist in humans. Therefore, the researchers hope to find the PNC1 gene in human DNA as well. However, it is possible that in the human body there are some genes that are responsible for longevity, and in order to locate and diagnose them, a longer study than that conducted in yeast will be necessary.
Last month, an international team of researchers announced the end of the genome decoding project, but the decoding itself does not mark the end of genetic research. Upon decoding, the researchers received a huge chain of about three billion DNA elements ("letters"). However, the genomic "text" is "written" in an incomprehensible language. It has no punctuation marks indicating where each garden begins and where it ends; Gene from gene is separated by DNA sequences that have no real meaning; Whereas the genes themselves are divided into sections that contain the instructions for their production, whose role is also still unclear.
"Whether or not sequencing the genome is more important than splitting the atom or landing on the moon, this achievement will affect human life more deeply than any other technological achievement," states Kevin Davis in his book "Decoding the Genome". The main effort is to discover the groups of genes that cause hereditary diseases - such as heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's and diabetes. The second phase of genetic research focuses on finding drugs.
Even if the scientists find genes that are responsible for the aging process, the hypothesis that claims that a person's living environment affects their lifespan will not be dismissed outright. Proper nutrition apparently helps not only to a healthier life, but also to a longer life. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the oldest man and woman in the world live in Japan. Kamto Hongo, 114 years old, drinks green tea and advocates a "carefree life". Yukishi Shohangi, 112 years old, was engaged in silk farming all his life. Israel, by the way, is in ninth place in the world in terms of the life expectancy of the population - 78.7 years on average.
Knowledge of the human genome and genetic engineering
Unfortunately, there is no possibility to link to the news in Nature
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