X-Message-Number: 26330 Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2005 08:53:18 -0400 From: Thomas Donaldson <> Subject: fruit flies weak models for our aging? Doug Skrecky's reference to a paper showing that REMOVAL of part of a fruit flies brain increases their lifespan suggests how much mammals differ from fruit flies, and thus how weak lifespan results on fruit flies are from life span results on mammals. This issue arises from the effect of removing the ability of the fruit flies to make insulin-like metabolic factors. The critical issue is that some gerontologists believe that similar factors in our own metabolism account for the lifespan results with Human Growth Hormone: INCREASING their level, such a theory says, will also increase lifespan. No lifespan experiment showing this seems to have yet been done; this is why I don't mention it at all in my GUIDE. (I'm happy to get the paper if anyone asks for it --- it's in the pile of papers I've kept, not for saying something important in itself, but for what they suggest). Best wishes and long long life to all, Thomas Donaldson Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=26330