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Lifespan

The effects of sensory deprivation

Nature volume 402, pages 740–741 (1999)Cite this article

Once, lifespan genetics was largely the domain of theorists, who tried to explain why an organism's genes so cavalierly allow individual somas to die. But a flood of papers on the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans has brought the subject into the realm of serious experimental analysis. The latest studies1,2, including a report by Apfeld and Kenyon1 on page 804 of this issue, indicate that the nervous system has a key function in regulating lifespan. Perhaps we are, indeed, only as old as we think we are.

Most of the genes known to regulate adult lifespan also affect formation of the developmentally distinct larval stage called the dauer larva. Formed in response to crowding and other stressors, the dauer larva is adapted to long-term survival under harsh conditions, including the absence of food. Unlike lifespan, dauer formation is very amenable to genetic analysis, and it has been the subject of many studies. Progress in understanding genetic control of lifespan in C. elegans began with the finding that mutations in the dauer-formation gene daf-2 extend lifespan dramatically3. This finding allowed researchers to tap into existing information about the genetic pathways that control dauer formation and, more importantly, to use dauer phenotypes to analyse the genes that control lifespan.

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  1. the Department of Genetics, University of Washington, Seattle, 98195, Washington, USA

    James H. Thomas

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Correspondence to James H. Thomas.

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Thomas, J. The effects of sensory deprivation. Nature 402, 740–741 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/45422

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