Results of a new study have led scientists to believe that stem cells may play an important role in determining how long we live. Researchers studying germ-line stem cells in nematode worms discovered that the cells appear to regulate a system that speeds up aging. Dr. Nuno Arantes-Oliveira were already aware that germ-line cells had an impact on lifespan, however in their most recent study they found that they could extend the worms lifespan by destroying specific germ-line precursor cells that develop from stem cells. Destroying these cells has also been shown to have the same effect on fruit flies. Arantes-Oliveira now plans to determine how the cells are regulating lifespan.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Science 2002; 295:502-505
