Methuselah Worm Remains Energetic for Life

October 27, 2003 | Source: Scientific American.com

Researchers report in the current issue of the journal Science that variants of the simple worm C. elegans can live 124 days–the equivalent of a human reaching his 500th birthday.

The researchers perturbed genes in C. elegans that affect the activity of insulin and removed gonad tissue, which affects endocrine hormone levels. Worms treated this way lived six times longer than normal worms and remained active for most of their lives.