University of Oxford and Open University researchers have found the fruit-fly equivalent of WRN, the gene that causes the premature aging of Werner syndrome.

Finding this gene means that these flies can now be used to study the effects aging has on DNA.

Patients with Werner syndrome have a damaged WRN gene that causes instability in their genomes. They age rapidly after puberty, rarely living beyond their early fifties, and often have cancer.

Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council News Release