Scientists Find Gene Linked to Longer Life

Scientists have discovered a gene that may affect longevity and leanness.

The gene is called S6K1. In lab tests, the typical life span of mice lacking the S6K1 gene was 9 percent longer and the maximum life span was 10 percent longer than mice with the gene.

Knocking out the S6K1 gene only affected longevity in female mice, but the reasons for that aren't clear from the study, which appears in the Oct. 2 edition of Science.

Female mice without the S6K1 gene also were leaner than female mice that have the gene, regardless of how much they ate, note the researchers, who included Colin Selman, PhD, of the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Selman worked on the study while at University College London.

Selman's team also notes that mice lacking the S6K1 gene were "smaller than their littermates throughout their lives," but were healthy and weren't dwarfs.

The results seen by deleting the S6K1 gene mimic the anti-aging effects of caloric restriction seen in lab tests on animals -- but without dieting, Selman and colleagues observed.

The researchers conclude that thwarting the S6K1 gene might lead to treatments for aging-related diseases. But they have not studied the gene in people.
By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang
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