Abstract
CONSIDERATION of the facts of mammalian cell ‘transformation’ by viruses led us to the proposition that only a few genes or gene systems need necessarily be involved in the ageing process1,2. These views accord in principle with conclusions derived from more recent analyses of the genetic basis for the increase in lifespan of hominid species in the last several hundred thousand years, namely that mutations at no more than about 0.6% of the total genome could be responsible for the increase3,4. We describe here a study of ultimate lifespans (as reflected by tenth deciles of survivorship) in congenic mice which suggests that the main histocompatibility complex (MHC) is one of the gene systems involved in the control of ageing.
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SMITH, G., WALFORD, R. Influence of the main histocompatibility complex on ageing in mice. Nature 270, 727–729 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/270727a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/270727a0
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