X-Message-Number: 23933
Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2004 11:40:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: Doug Skrecky <>
Subject: short lived fish

Thomas Donaldson <> wrote:
> Even so, a short lived fish is a big step from fruit flies.
> ...
> So how easy are these fish to get and keep? Is there any place
> at all where they have captive fish generally?
>
Guess I'll have to find out!

> Results with these fish would likely be more significant for
> us than any with fruit flies (even for scientists who look at
> the genetics of aging, or try to, the genes involved don't match
> well enough between humans and fruitflies to draw any strong
> --- rather than just suggestive --- conclusions from treatments
> of fruit flies).
>
 Yes, fruit fly aging may very well have nothing to do with human aging.
In my own fly experiments pathogens are a bigger killer than the motor
neuron degeneration which limits maximum lifespan in this species. However
bacteria might still be a major confounding factor in fish experiments as
well. Currently I'm working on (safe) ways and means to eliminate
bacteria from influencing longevity experiments. As you may know bacteria
do determine the lifespan of c elegans nematodes via their coenzyme Q
content, and this fact accounts for why calories influence longevity in c
elegans. A vertebrate (fish) with a similar maximum longevity would
indeed be a major step forward as a proposed aging subject, over either c
elegans or flies.

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