Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Office of Science NEWTON's Homepage NEWTON's Homepage
NEWTON, Ask A Scientist!
NEWTON Home Page NEWTON Teachers Visit Our Archives Ask A Question How To Ask A Question Question of the Week Our Expert Scientists Volunteer at NEWTON! Frequently Asked Questions Referencing NEWTON About NEWTON About Ask A Scientist Education At Argonne Aging gene 
Name: Linda S Martinez
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
Have the aging gene or genes been located on the human chromosomes, and, if yes, will removing that gene slow the aging process?


Replies:
To my knowledge, no one has discovered THE aging gene in any eukaryotic organism. The closest thing I know of are some studies published in the journal Nature in which a gene in the nematode C. elegans was discovered which could extend the mean life span of the organism by about 20-fold when mutated. This is a pretty hot topic so try again in six months and there will probably be more information.

Rob

There's a survey article on aging in humans in the December 1992 issue of "Scientific American."

Christopher Grayce


Click here to return to the Biology Archives

NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.

For assistance with NEWTON contact a System Operator (help@newton.dep.anl.gov), or at Argonne's Educational Programs

NEWTON AND ASK A SCIENTIST
Educational Programs
Building 360
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Argonne, Illinois
60439-4845, USA
Update: June 2012
Weclome To Newton

Argonne National Laboratory