No Single Gene For Aging
- Date:
- September 12, 2005
- Source:
- The Research Council of Norway
- Summary:
- According to professor Thomas Kirkwood of the University of Newcastle, there is no single gene for aging. Throughout time, humans have used energy to get food, produce offspring and survive danger -- not to repair and maintain cells. So the maintenance system in the body slowly breaks down.
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According to professor Thomas Kirkwood of the University of Newcastle,there is no single gene for aging. Throughout time, Humans have usedenergy to get food, produce offspring and survive danger -- not torepair and maintain cells. So the maintenance system in the body slowlybreaks down.
This topic was of great interest at the seminar for aging at theconference "Functional genomics and disease" taking place in Oslo,Norway. Thomas Kirkwood is the director of the internationallyrecognised Institute of Aging and Health (IAH).
Developmentally it has been more important for humans to investenergy in reproduction and not in maintenance or repair of the bodyover time.
But genetic factors do exist. "Approximately 25 percent of howa person ages is inherited from parents," says Kirkwood. "Stress,environment, nutrition, lifestyle and immunity play an additional role.Great variation between individuals can be seen in organisms such asround worms -- and in humans."
Studies of aging also give insight into the causes of cancer,because cancer and aging have the same background causes, thinksVilhelm Bohr, professor at the University of Baltimore in the UnitedStates.
"Cancer is more frequent with age. We must understand thecauses of aging to be able to understand why we have cancer," pointsout Bohr during his presentation at the conference.
Kirkwood's paper was presented at the "Functional genomics and disease" conference - Genetics Conference, Oslo, Norway,University of Oslo and European Science Foundation (ESF).
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Materials provided by The Research Council of Norway. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
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