Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Extending Worms’ Lives, and Maybe Ours
In this article, scientists found a way to further the lives of C. elegans worms. A chemical, thioflavin T, were given to the worms. That same chemical was given to people with Alzheimer's Disease. Thioflavin T can find clumps of misfolded proteins in the brain in people with AD. Thioflavin T was believed to slow the misfolds in worms. The C. worms usually live between 18 to 20 days. When they are treated with Thioflavin T, they could live 30 to 70% longer. At middle age, they were high functioning. The down side to this, the chemicals reduce the worm's fertility and can be toxic.
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Do you know how long they have been researching this study? Its awesome to know they have identified the protein and can slower the rate of Alzheimer’s Disease. Especially knowing that it can increase the longevity of a person life. The side effect of fertility i don't think may be much of concern to Alzheimer’s patience since a majority of them are elderly.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how long they have been researching this. But, this is a good thing.
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