Researchers Have Discovered a Mutation That Significantly Increases Lifespan

RNA Biotechnology

Scientists found that worms live longer if introns remain in certain RNAs.

The study found that faulty RNA processing can result in longer life. 

RNA is an important information transmitter in our cells and acts as a blueprint for protein production. When freshly formed RNA is processed, introns are removed to produce mature mRNA coding for protein. This cutting is known as “splicing,” and it is controlled by a complex known as the “spliceosome.”

Long-lived worms

“We found a gene in worms, called PUF60, that is involved in RNA splicing and regulates life span,” says Max Planck scientist Dr. Wenming Huang who made the discovery.

This gene’s mutations resulted in inaccurate splicing and the retention of introns within certain RNAs. As a result, less of the corresponding proteins were produced from this RNA. Surprisingly, worms with the PUF60 gene mutation survived significantly longer than normal worms.

The Roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans Longevity Gene

The roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans is an important model organism in aging research. The worm in the image is labeled with GFP::RNP-6. Credit: Max Planck Institute for Biology of Ageing

Particularly affected by this defective production were some proteins that play a role in the mTOR signalling pathway. This signalling pathway is an important sensor for the availability of food and serves as a control centre of cell metabolism. It has long been the focus of ageing research as a target of potential anti-ageing drugs. The researchers were also able to show in human cell cultures that reduced levels of PUF60 activity led to lower activity of the mTOR signalling pathway.

PUF60 mutation in humans

“We think that by altering the fate of introns in RNAs, we have discovered a novel mechanism that regulates mTOR signaling and longevity,” says Max Planck Director Adam Antebi who led the study. “Interestingly, there are also human patients with similar mutations in the PUF60 gene. These patients have growth defects and neurodevelopmental disorders. Perhaps in the future, these patients could be helped by administering drugs that control mTOR activity. But of course, this needs more research.”

Reference: “Decreased spliceosome fidelity and egl-8 intron retention inhibit mTORC1 signaling to promote longevity” by Wenming Huang, Chun Kew, Stephanie de Alcantara Fernandes, Anna Löhrke, Lynn Han, Constantinos Demetriades and Adam Antebi, 19 September 2022, Nature Aging
DOI: 10.1038/s43587-022-00275-z

The study was funded by the Max Planck Society.

50 Comments on "Researchers Have Discovered a Mutation That Significantly Increases Lifespan"

  1. Hmm… Diseased genes and diseased thinking…
    Sounds about right.

  2. When they discover life with out end in humans what would and eternal hitler look like?

    • no clue🔍🔎🛡

    • Hitler did not die of old age. Most truly dreadful tyrants die other ways. Also, what will prison sentences look like?

      Thing is, even with all the breakthroughs, an end to aging is unlikely. Life extension is all but assured, but complete cure, nope. Not in the foreseeable future, anyway. There are too many forms of aging…it is not one thing…but any one of them is sufficient.

  3. This has nothing to do with the fact that half the world just took an mRNA vaccine we’re studying the effects of.

  4. Could this procedure be of any help in any way, with the mutation of both ATM genes? There are alot of parents and caretakers like myself that are desperate for a cure for Ataxia Telangiectasia.

  5. To what is that if we are destructive race?

    • All building is destruction of what it is made from. Whether you chose to call it construction or destruction is merely perspective. There are certainly sad things many people have done to the natural world. But, by and large, things are improving. Some things may take a very long time to fix, like old growth forests, but they can heal…eventually. Probably faster with our help.

  6. Steve Nordquist | November 8, 2022 at 10:20 am | Reply

    Aaand there’s a Nature Aging to track now. Faster laity, live, live.

  7. And they said to themselves, let us build a tower.

  8. Significantly longer… that’s pretty relative… is that 10 seconds, 10% or 10 times longer… or just a tiny little bit longer like almost not Significant but just Significant enough to call it Significant?

    • Expectant Rabbit | November 13, 2022 at 4:36 am | Reply

      The changes could be large or small. The word “significant” here merely means, “most likely, didn’t happen by chance”. That is, the result is interesting and worth looking into. Most commonly, it means 95% likely didn’t happen by chance, but the figure used varies from study to study.

  9. Worms one of the first life forms, before anything ,beside maybe algae🦠🐛🐛🦠🐛🦠🐛. Plus 🌌 ➕ 🌌 heal themselves if a booboo🩹🩹🩹🩹🧬🧬🧬🧬🔬🔬🔬🔬happens😏💩🙊🙀🤖👾😂🤣🤓might outlive ,…

  10. Is this what’s in the covid19 vaccine?

  11. Perhaps medical research would advance quicker if the researchers would quit using using animals and other creatures as a basis point, and instead focus on chemics and expsure rates?

  12. I was wondering what the message was.

  13. RandallCharlesChafin | November 8, 2022 at 9:37 pm | Reply

    When you read the Holy Bible, it seems people lived a lot longer in biblical times. People like Methusala(sp?) Perhaps there was a genetic change and humans started to live shorter lives. Did Romans live longer lives? I don’t recall any Romans living a thousand years.

  14. This is a gene that belongs to a worm. We have another kind of genes, human genes .the mRNA used in COVID shots produces viral proteins, not worm proteins and new viruses, what infects everyone who takes this s*** mislabeled as vaccines, not vaccines, not at all , it’s a deadly experiment

  15. RandallCharlesChafin | November 9, 2022 at 1:30 am | Reply

    Well I also read today that a group of scientists have said the first human that will live 1000 years has already been born. Makes you wonder how long they have known about the worms

    • Good grief, I hope I’m not the one who was born that will live to 1000. Can you imaging the budget necessary for wrinkle cream alone????? LOLJulie

  16. @
    Anon
    November 8, 2022 at 7:08 am
    This has nothing to do with the fact that half the world just took an mRNA vaccine we’re studying the effects of.

    ……..RIGHT?….. dafuq.

  17. Correct @Anon. This is completely unrelated to the COVID vaccine. MRNA has many more functions in biology than fighting COVID. Research into how it works helps scientists develop
    new treatments to different conditions. This is about a genetic mutation you may or may not have been born with, a gene that affects mRNA.

  18. People equating this RNA with the mRNA in COVID vaccines: You sound, to a biochemist, about as uninformed as someone who implies that a restaurant serving bread is somehow conspiratorially related to someone across the world butchering a lamb. Yes, bread and meat are both food, but there are soooo many other nuances. Please read a college-level genetics or biochemistry textbook before you make further such assertions.

  19. Revelation 9:6 covers this.

  20. I would say, if we had a human like Hitler, that could live for thousands of years the same thing would has as did to the last one. The world would rise up and destroy him. Everything in our history can be used for good or evil. Living longer might let us survive long enough to realize how to deal with bad people in the correct manner.

  21. God be with us

  22. @Randall I’m sure they have created someone who will live 1000 years. I’m also sure that will be the antichrist. The humans that are out here doing all this research and creating these new technologies… They will be the destruction of humankind, our extinction. Just because u can’t be happy just living a simple life doesn’t give u the right to destroy it for those who do enjoy life as a whole. Get therapy not research how to end humans genetically

  23. How does an article about mRna turn into a Trump monkey ball toss. No this has nothing to do with covid. mRna may be interesting because you only ever heard it come out of a Trolls mouth, but it’s way more than that.

  24. Was it in measles, smallpox, oh no, they gave us COVID-19 to make a vaccine . . . Q don’t know jack about science! Y’all killing me. Thank you researchers/scientists. What have you come up with to cure stupidity?

  25. David carothers | November 9, 2022 at 2:43 pm | Reply

    I am your guinea pig.
    Bring on the science!

  26. I’m glad research isn’t guided by religious nonsense, nihilistic rhetoric or outright ignorance. The comments to this news to date are disturbing. Far too many people are guided by superstition, conspiracy nonsense etc and it all comes from a shocking lack of knowledge which doesn’t seem to stop people ignorant of facts to wax unabashed about what they obviously know so little about. I applaud efforts to give us more years on this planet to live, laugh, love and above all learn. I know I’m not the only one, it’s just disturbing that the contrary opinion has such a hold on people who are quite comfortable living in a box of ignorance.

    • Earlier the Better | November 14, 2022 at 6:03 am | Reply

      Another way to increase Lifespan: Religion Conflicts kill Several people each year. Simple. No Religions, No Killings. Instead of entombing, preservation at Absolute Degree Temp. is of Extreme importance also for Humanity. To do it, We should have Abundant Clean Energy available for a Penny !

  27. How the hell do even all these r*****ed commenters above even arrive to this site?
    If you don’t like and don’t understand this type of news then don’t read them.

  28. yeah.. lets make parasites, like roundworms, live longer. that sounds safe. especially since we now know that they injected ppl with a parasite/cyborg hybrid.

  29. After reading the comments of this article, I’m deeply concerned with the scientific literacy of the average person.

    This will inevitably cast more light on the function of noncoding sequences and junk dna’. It’s not surprising that it impacts the mTOR mechanism in this way.

  30. Forms of mutated cells isn’t a good thing eg a mutation that multiplies and takes over other good cells can be live threatening this is how leukemia develops with the rare Philadelphia leukemia blood cancer.

  31. How did a bunch of Qanaon quacks wind up here in SciTech? Congrats you recognized mRNA was an acronym used in the article also used to create C19 vaccine.. but that’s it, there’s no other connection. Just because you spot same thing twice doesn’t mean they are related. Oh but wait you are already down the Quackanon hole… Nevermind you lack the ability to discern and just spread fear for nothing…

  32. Great article with some great possibilities. The research is ongoing and with deal some great benefits in the future. I tell my 6 and 10 year old they were born when the cure for death will be discovered, pending any accidents.

  33. The question nobody has mentioned, is if they’re successful and able to produce an anti-aging medicine how much would it cost because eternal youth has been sought after for a millennia there’s no way normal people would ever get there hands on it…. Only the rich would ever even see anything like this normal people unless there the 1s being tested on will never get the opportunity to try it

    • Earlier the Better | November 14, 2022 at 5:41 am | Reply

      Government will pay for it. It starts payments to the topmost of the Society and ends up with least productive humans. If a Nobel Laureate lives for 40 more years, society will be benefited a lot and Govt. that is enriched keeps paying to lesser and lesser productive ones.

  34. I am just amazed at the wording and what people might think, people think and dance around what little they know. It’s like wait until you actually have a breakthrough up until then shhh

  35. L-luciene is the best Mtor pathway signal there is. So basically protein specificly whey/casien proteins are the best upregulator. Just a comment

  36. Earlier the Better | November 14, 2022 at 5:35 am | Reply

    Increasing the Lifespan is of Paramount Importance to Humans, but not much attention is paid. We cannot experiment much on Humans. Black Rat & some Mice sp. Life span is only 1 year; Several sets of experiments should be done. Remove couple of Cells of the Embryo, while still in the Womb. Remove couple of Cells of the same immediately after being delivered. Make Stem cells of both of them. In some, Inject Stem Cells to same from Pre-Conception while approaching its death, In some, Inject Stem Cells to same from After-Delivery while approaching its death. In Some, both types of Stem Cells are injected throughout their lifetime and in some both types only at the time of death. So, in Various Black Rats, Various Ways. What is the use? Find out what happens even in their metabolism and one day may apply the good results, if any on Humans…Certainly, Not the way it was done to Rats.

    • Earlier the Better | November 15, 2022 at 5:55 am | Reply

      Jeanne Calment, Who lived for 122 yrs and 164 days With longest Lifespan was born in Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence. Some of her close family members also had an above-average lifespan as her older brother, François (1865–1962) who lived to the age of 97, her father, Nicolas (1837–1931),93 and her mother, Marguerite (1838–1924),86.

    • Earlier the Better | November 16, 2022 at 4:37 pm | Reply

      If it is so difficult to Increase Lifespan or To Get rid off Death Forever, WHY Not attempt simple things, such as Preventing ‘Greying of Hairs’. Is it so Difficult in 2022? It will lead to more things in that direction. In Progeria, the Children look like 85 year olds at Age 10 !

    • Earlier the Better | November 19, 2022 at 1:38 pm | Reply

      If not Longevity, something else should be tried, paving way to it fast. For example, there are Alsatian Dog-sized ‘Punganur Cows’. It has been shown online their houses full of 10-15 of them playing together. If the secret is known for their tiny size by studying the genome and comparing it to that of Regular sized cows, We can’t make a huge sized baby born to small sized female animal. But, we can then make Cat sized Elephants imitating what had happened in genomes of those mini ‘Punganur Cows’. A Cat sized Elephant will be a wonderful pet both inside the house and in the backyard. Whatever grass a lawnmower removes may be fed to that Cat sized Elephant !

  37. Wow very interesting isn’t it . To do with the RNA ‘ & the covid vaccine & test covered the RNA too ‘ ! To establish who has the faulty Gene & who doesn’t? So those who don’t have it will live longer & those that do have it live shorter ? Am I overthinking this ???

  38. Be honest doesn’t it strike you just a little bit odd that so many of the world’s population just blindly took the first ever MRNA targeting vac 💉 and
    It’s obvious that sudden death numbers are rising seriously covid had less deaths related than any form of diabetes
    And the population as a whole it blind to see. That a sick patient is a steady customer
    How many people actually do anything about their immune system on the daily. Less than half of the population. Wake up
    Healthy people don’t need doctors only sick humans do

  39. Perhaps this discovery might benefit cancer infusion treatments for those of us that have tumors/cancer & metastasizd cancer cells. Perhaps instead of lengthening one’s longevity, this process could be reversed, erasing the cancer cells, thus erasing this event horizon(s) existence from ever happening in the 1st place, like a time machine in reverse.

Leave a Reply to Grant Cancel reply

Email address is optional. If provided, your email will not be published or shared.