We all want to live longer. Dozens of laboratories at The Scripps Research Institute are working to defeat life-threatening conditions ranging from different types of cancer to genetic and neurodegenerative disorders. But independent of specific diseases, what factors determine a person’s lifespan? Might it be possible one day to significantly extend length and quality of life? It turns out the answers to these big questions may be found in the smallest of places
TSRI faculty members William Ja and Michael Petrascheck study the aging process using two types of animals known in biomedical research as “model organisms.” Drosophila melanogaster, aka the common fruit fly, is used in the Ja lab, while the Petrascheck lab relies on Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), a tiny nematode or roundworm. Both organisms are easy to work with in a laboratory setting and bear genetic similarities with mammals, including humans. These similarities are due to specific genes and their functions being “conserved” in both species, or relatively unchanged over time by evolution.
TSRI faculty members William Ja and Michael Petrascheck study the aging process using two types of animals known in biomedical research as “model organisms.” Drosophila melanogaster, aka the common fruit fly, is used in the Ja lab, while the Petrascheck lab relies on Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans), a tiny nematode or roundworm. Both organisms are easy to work with in a laboratory setting and bear genetic similarities with mammals, including humans. These similarities are due to specific genes and their functions being “conserved” in both species, or relatively unchanged over time by evolution.
