NIH-Funded Study Reveals Evolutionary Tricks Tied to Health Longevity
National Institutes of Health-funded research released on June 23 offers new insights into why aging rates vary when it comes to evolutionary tricks, such as having armor and venom.
The research was led by Ronald Kohanski, who serves as a director of the National Institute on Aging at the NIH, and Manuel Moro, a NIA Health Scientist administrator.
To conduct the study, which was published in Science, the two researchers examined more than 100 different animals. They found that cold-blooded, four-legged animals known as ectothermic tetrapods, including turtles and salamanders, can age very quickly or extremely slowly.
These animals rely on heat from their environment to regulate their body temperature. Scientists found they have significantly low aging rates and, for their size, live long lives ranging from one to 137 years.
The study offers new evolutionary insights that aging rates decrease in species with slow-paced lives. Slower aging rates are also found in animals with protective traits, such as armor, venom, shells and spines.
With the finding that ectothermic animals have a higher diversity of aging rates, researchers hope to better understand aging in humans.
Alexa can be reached at alexa@thewellnews.com
In The News
Health
Voting
Health
WASHINGTON — A hit in the early 1970s featured children in its final refrain singing, “no more pencils, no more... Read More
WASHINGTON — A hit in the early 1970s featured children in its final refrain singing, “no more pencils, no more books, no more teacher’s dirty looks.” If the song were updated this year, Alice Cooper might be tempted to have them throw in “no more remote... Read More
NEW YORK (AP) — The polio virus has been found in New York City’s wastewater in another sign that the... Read More
NEW YORK (AP) — The polio virus has been found in New York City’s wastewater in another sign that the disease, which hadn’t been seen in the U.S. in a decade, is quietly spreading among unvaccinated people, health officials said Friday. The presence of the poliovirus... Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats pushed their flagship climate change and health care bill toward House passage Friday, placing President Joe Biden on... Read More
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats pushed their flagship climate change and health care bill toward House passage Friday, placing President Joe Biden on the brink of a back-from-the-dead triumph on his leading domestic goals that could energize his party going into November’s elections. Democrats were poised to muscle the measure through the... Read More
ATLANTA — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed its COVID-19 guidelines Thursday, dropping its recommendation that Americans quarantine... Read More
ATLANTA — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed its COVID-19 guidelines Thursday, dropping its recommendation that Americans quarantine themselves if they come into close contact with an infected person. Instead it is urging those who know they’ve been exposed to COVID-19 but not sick... Read More
WASHINGTON — The White House is rearranging its monkeypox response with a strategy for stretching the supply of vaccines and... Read More
WASHINGTON — The White House is rearranging its monkeypox response with a strategy for stretching the supply of vaccines and with new leadership on its task force. The new strategy announced Tuesday calls for two injections of the vaccine but at only one-fifth the normal potency... Read More
WASHINGTON — The Senate passed the roughly $740 billion tax, climate and health care package known as the Inflation Reduction... Read More
WASHINGTON — The Senate passed the roughly $740 billion tax, climate and health care package known as the Inflation Reduction Act on Aug. 7, by a vote of 51-50. The massive package includes provisions to reduce drug costs for patients and providers by letting Medicare negotiate... Read More