The Sinclair lab at Harvard used yeast to discover a protein that could be the key to discovering the fountain of youth! Yeast age like humans, and this lab discovered that a single mutation in a protein called Sir1 (Sirtuin 1) resulted in longevity. They then discovered that Sir2 protein plays a role in both gene suppression as well as DNA repair. When the yeast grows old, this multi-tasking gene can no longer result in gene suppression and so genes start getting expressed in places they shouldn't. This was a very important finding because it is already known that some aging diseases, like Type II Diabetes and Alzheimer’s, are associated with inappropriate gene expression in the certain tissues.  Fascinatingly, they found that when the Sir1 protein was overexpressed in yeast that they were able to survive 30% longer!!!  They found that this dysfunction of this protein triggers aging in mice and most likely humans too [31].

 

1. Sinclair DA, Guarente L. Unlocking the secrets of longevity genes. Scientific American. 2006;29 (3):48-57.

2. Guarente L. Sirtuins in aging and disease. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 2007;72(483-8).

 

Link to Sinclair lab website: http://genetics.med.harvard.edu/sinclair/