PALM readers beware: biologists have found a way to accurately predict lifespan – at least in worms.
Meng-Qiu Dong at the National Institute of Biological Sciences in Beijing, China, and her colleagues added proteins to nematode worms that fluoresce when they detect free radicals in their mitochondria. It's long been thought that an accumulation of free radicals in these cellular energy generators affects lifespan.
Dong's team found that the number of "mitoflashes" caused by the presence of free radicals when a nematode was three days old could predict its lifespan. Worms typically live for 21 days, but those with low mitoflash activity lived longer, while those with high mitoflash activity died before day 21 (Nature, DOI: 10.1038/nature13012).
Dong hopes that her team's technique – the first non-invasive, lifespan predictor for live animals – will encourage others to explore the link between high free radical production in the mitochondria and accelerated ageing.
The approach might eventually prove useful for studying mitochondrial disorders, she says.
This article appeared in print under the headline "I see you have a long life ahead..."
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