ScienceDaily: Fruit Fly Intestine May Hold Secret to Fountain of Youth: Long-Lived Fruit Flies Offer Clues to Slowing Human Aging and Fighting Disease
Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and their collaborators found that tweaking a gene known as PGC-1, which is also found in human DNA, in the intestinal stem cells of fruit flies delayed the aging of their intestine and extended their lifespan by as much as 50 percent.
"Slowing the aging of a single, important organ -- in this case the intestine -- could have a dramatic effect on overall health and longevity," Jones says. "In a disease that affects multiple tissues, for instance, you might focus on keeping one organ healthy, and to do that you might be able to utilize PGC-1."
The fruit fly study reminded me of the dog study I read about a few months ago.
ScienceDaily: Dogs Lived 1.8 Years Longer On Low Calorie Diet: Gut Flora May Explain It
The researchers suggest that part of the healthier metabolic profiles of dogs on a restricted diet is related to their changed gut microbial activity, which in turn contributes to their generally improved health and longer lifespan.
