Genes Are Read Faster And More Sloppily In Old Age
Published:17 May2023 Source:University of Cologne
In a large joint project, a total of six research groups have demonstrated the following findings which apply across the animal kingdom: with increasing age, the transcriptional elongation speed of genes increases, whereby the quality of the gene products suffers. With dietary restrictions, these processes could be reversed.
The 26 scientists investigated genome-wide, age-related changes in transcription processes in nematodes, fruit flies, mice, rats and humans, including diverse tissues. And they discovered that the average speed at which the transcript grows through the attachment of RNA building blocks, the nucleotides, increased with age in all five species.
Professor Beyer says: “Our results uncover fundamental molecular mechanisms underlying animal ageing and interventions to extend lifespan, providing clues as to how we might contribute to healthy ageing in the future. The fact that interventions, such as a reduced calorie intake, also have a positive effect on a healthy ageing process on the molecular level via improving the quality of gene transcription is something which we have now been able to prove quite clearly with our study.”