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Phoenix666 writes:

A research team led by a Northwestern University scientist has discovered that male animals, through their invisible chemical "essence," prime female animals for reproduction but with the unfortunate side effect of also hastening females' aging process.

"The male signals trigger the female to 'go for it'—to put more effort into reproduction—but then the body suffers," said Ilya Ruvinsky, of the department of molecular biosciences at Northwestern's Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. "There is a fine balance between reproduction and body maintenance, and this balance can be tipped by the male. We now are starting to tease apart this complexity."

Using the tiny transparent roundworm C. elegans, a well-established model for biomedical research, Ruvinsky and Erin Z. Aprison identified two distinct signals produced by males that affect female reproduction. The females sense the signals and respond by altering their physiology.

Children usually get the blame for female aging, but it looks like males might be the original culprits.

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