Bob Goldstein, UNC Chapel Hill [creativecommons license] via Wikimedia CommonsThe nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is commonly used in research on longevity because of its relative simplicity and amenability to genetic manipulation. Worms carrying certain genetic mutations, called Mit mutants, have compromised energy pathways but surprisingly long lifespans. Jeffrey A. Butler (University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio) and colleagues have proposed that Mit mutants use alternate energy pathways and that these metabolic changes underlie longevity. Now, Butler’s group has published results of a new study that confirm these predictions, indicating that lifespan is linked to how worms extract energy from food (FASEB J. 24, 4977–4988; 2010).
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