Activating a specific gene in the intestines of a fruit fly made it live 30 percent longer, a team of biologists has reported.
The gene in question, AMPK, detects and reacts to fluctuations in the body to help modulate energy levels. The gene is also found in humans in low levels, leading the UCLA team to postulate in the open source journal Cell Reports that we could use it to learn about potentially delaying the ageing process.

Key to this statement is the fact that in the experiment on the Drosophila melanogaster fruit fly, the ageing process slowed throughout the insect's organs -- not just in the intestine where AMPK was activated.
The team behind the study is taking an approach similar to that ofbiogerontologist and SENS Foundation co-founder Aubrey de Grey, who argues that instead of attempting to modify our cells to combat disease, we must repair the molecular damage that happens as cells degrade. Among the cell death, cell divisions and mitochondria mutations that he cites as being cellular problems to combat, is "molecular garbage", a problem also flagged up by the UCLA team. In the body, we naturally discard of this molecular garbage through a process known as autophagy. Autophagy allows any cells that are old or degrading to be shed, and AMPK is known to help activate that system. "However, the tissue-specific mechanisms involved are poorly understood," writes the UCLA team in Cell Reports. If we could better understand and harness its capabilities, they argue, we could go some way in slowing the aging process by tackling the molecular garbage problem prevalent in old age. It is molecular garbage and protein buildups that contribute to some of the biggest killer diseases in later years.
"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," commented David Walker from UCLA's Molecular Biology Institute.
Of the work carried out in his lab by lead author on the paper Matthew Ulgherait, Walker said Ulgherait "moved beyond correlation and established causality". "He showed that the activation of autophagy was both necessary to see the anti-aging effects and sufficient; that he could bypass AMPK and directly target autophagy." Most promising, was the multi-organ reactions to the increase. Instigating a gene increase in the intestine impacted the brain and vice versa.
In Cell Reports the team explains: "upregulation of AMPK in the adult intestine induces autophagy both cell autonomously and non-cell-autonomously in the brain, slows systemic aging, and prolongs the lifespan."
For the humble fruit fly, that meant an extra two weeks added to its usual six-week lifespan.
The team is obviously at the very early stages of investigating the gene and its impact. So we might all do well, for the time being, to follow the recommendations issued by a Swedish university last week based on its anti-ageing study -- stand up more, it could prevent degradation of DNA.
 
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-09/09/slow-the-ageing-process
09 SEPTEMBER 14  by LIAT CLARK