'Remote Control' May Delay the Aging Process

Researchers have discovered a gene that may be able to delay the aging process via a remote control. Findings published in the journal Cell Reports.

For the study, researchers performed experiments on fruit flies to activate genes called AMPK that provided key energy sensors in cells that activated cellular energy levels that were low. They noted increases in the amount of AMPK in the fruit flies intestines that increased their lifespans by about 30 percent and the flies also stayed healthier and longer as well.

Researchers could have important implications for delaying aging and disease in humans, according to David Walker, an associate professor of integrative biology and physiology at UCLA and senior author of the research.

"We have shown that when we activate the gene in the intestine or the nervous system, we see the aging process is slowed beyond the organ system in which the gene is activated," Walker said, in a news release. 

However, researchers noted that the study underscored activating AMPK via a more accessible organ such as the intestine, which could ultimately slow down the aging process throughout the entire body, including the brain.

"Instead of studying the diseases of aging-Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, stroke, cardiovascular disease, diabetes-one by one, we believe it may be possible to intervene in the aging process and delay the onset of many of these diseases," concluded Walker, a member of UCLA's Molecular Biology Institute. "We are not there yet, and it could, of course, take many years, but that is our goal and we think it is realistic."

"The ultimate aim of our research is to promote healthy aging in people."