C. elegans gives the dirt on aging.
The worm Caenorhabditis elegans has become a popular model organism for the study of mechanisms involved in aging. The C. elegans life span is controlled by several pathways that have been extensively characterized at the molecular level. These include pathways that regulate metabolism and development (namely, the insulin/IGF-1 pathway), nutrition, mitochondrial activity, and reproduction. Presentations at a recent C. elegans conference add to the growing body of knowledge about the genetic networks that control the complex process of aging and suggest new avenues for further investigations.
Hertweck
Maren
M
Laboratory of Bioinformatics and Molecular Genetics, Institute of Biology 3, Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Schänzlestrasse 1, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany. maren.hertweck@biologie.uni-freiburg.de
D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000502:physiology; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology; D015398:Signal Transduction