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posted by martyb on Thursday July 16 2020, @07:10AM   Printer-friendly

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

The research, published July 10 in the Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences, shows the drug mifepristone can extend the lives of two very different species used in laboratory studies, suggesting the findings may apply to other species, including human beings.

Studying one of the most common laboratory models used in genetic research -- the fruit fly Drosophila -- John Tower, professor of biological sciences, and his team found that the drug mifepristone extends the lives of female flies that have mated.

[...] During mating, female fruit flies receive a molecule called sex peptide from the male. Previous research has shown that sex peptide causes inflammation and reduces the health and lifespan of female flies.

Tower and his team, including Senior Research Associate Gary Landis, lead researcher on the study, found that feeding mifepristone to the fruit flies that have mated blocks the effects of sex peptide, reducing inflammation and keeping the female flies healthier, leading to longer lifespans than their counterparts who did not receive the drug.

The drug's effects in Drosophila appear similar to those seen in women who take it.

[...] In a scientific first, Tower and collaborators Chia-An Yen, who obtained her Ph.D. last spring from USC Dornsife College, and Sean Curran, associate professor of gerontology and biological sciences at USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology and USC Dornsife College, also gave mifepristone to another common laboratory model, a small roundworm called C. elegans. They found the drug had the same life-extending effect on the mated worm.

Because Drosophila fruit flies and C. elegans worms sit on relatively distant branches of the evolutionary tree, Tower believes the similar results in such different species suggest other organisms, including humans, might see comparable benefits to lifespan.

Journal Reference:
Landis, Gary N, Doherty, Devon V, Yen, Chia-An, et al. Metabolic Signatures of Life Span Regulated by Mating, Sex Peptide and Mifepristone/RU486 in Female Drosophila melanogaster, The Journals of Gerontology: Series A (DOI: 10.1093/gerona/glaa164)

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Thursday July 16 2020, @04:59PM

    by bzipitidoo (4388) on Thursday July 16 2020, @04:59PM (#1022478) Journal

    Males are imflammatory?

    Stay virginal. You'll live longer. Who knew the PHB might have been on to something when he asked the company nurse to help provide him with eunuch programmers!

    And here I was formulating arguments that sex is good for females in particular, because they receive all kinds of endorphins and other goodies in the semen that improves their health. And why shouldn't semen have such effects, since the woman has to be healthy in order to bear children? Seems only logical. Though I could also see it being overstimulating, causing a bit of maternal sacrifice, to divert resources to potential babies. 99.9999% of the material won't ever fertilize an egg, and substantial amounts do not leak out immediately, so what therefore becomes of it all? What does it do?

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