{"id":78312,"date":"2020-09-30T03:00:01","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T00:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/more-common-than-we-thought\/"},"modified":"2020-09-30T03:00:01","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T00:00:01","slug":"more-common-than-we-thought","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/more-common-than-we-thought\/","title":{"rendered":"#More common than we thought?"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#More common than we thought?<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\n The researchers at Link\u00f6ping University used fruit flies to study mutations that could contribute to ageing. Credit: Magnus Johansson\/Link\u00f6ping University
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The number of mutations that can contribute to aging may be significantly higher than previously believed, according to new research on fruit flies. The study by scientists at Link\u00f6ping University, Sweden, supports a new theory about the type of mutation that can lie behind aging. The results have been published in BMC Biology<\/i>.<\/p>\n


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We live, we age and we die. Many functions of our bodies deteriorate slowly but surely as we age, and eventually an organism dies. This thought may not be very encouraging, but most of us have probably accepted that this is the fate of all living creatures\u2014death is part of life. However, those who study evolutionary biology find it far from clear why this is the case.<\/p>\n

“The evolution of aging is, in a manner of speaking, a paradox. Evolution causes continuous adaptation in organisms, but even so it has not resulted in them ceasing to age,” says Urban Friberg, senior lecturer in the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology at Link\u00f6ping University and leader of the study.<\/p>\n

Nearly 70 years ago, evolutionary biologists proposed two theories concerning two different types of mutation that contribute to aging. Both of these mutations have a detrimental effect as the organism becomes older\u2014which leads to aging\u2014while they are either advantageous or neutral early in life. Researchers have, however, not been able to determine which of the two types of mutation contributes most to aging, despite experimental studies.<\/p>\n

A new theory was proposed a few years ago suggesting that aging is caused by mutations with a detrimental effect early in life, and whose negative effects increase with age. Those who support this hypothesis believe that many of the mutations that arise have negative effects right from the start, compared with the normal variant of a gene.<\/p>\n

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\n Martin Iinatti Brengdahl, PhD student at Link\u00f6ping University, examining fruit flies in a microscope. Credit: Magnus Johansson\/Link\u00f6ping University
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The study now published describes experiments to test the theory of mutations that have a detrimental effect throughout life and contribute to aging. The authors used one of the most well-studied animals in the world, namely the fruit fly, or Drosophila melanogaster. They tested 20 different mutations that they had placed into the genetic material of the flies. For each individual mutation, they studied a group of flies with the mutation and a control group without it. Each mutation had a specific, visible effect, which made it easy to follow, such as a somewhat different app<\/a>earance of the wings or a different shape of the eyes.<\/p>\n

As an organism ages, the probability that an individual dies increases, and its ability to reproduce falls. The researchers determined the fertility of the fruit flies and used it as a measure of aging. They counted the number of eggs laid by each female early in life, after two weeks, and finally after a further two weeks (which is a ripe old age for a fruit fly!). The researchers wanted to see whether the difference between flies with the mutations and the control group changed as they aged. The results support the theory they were testing. Most of the mutations had a negative effect on the fertility of the fruit flies early in life, and most of them also caused reproductive aging to occur more rapidly.<\/p>\n

“The results suggest that mutations that are detrimental early in life can also contribute to aging. Thus it may be that mutations that bring on aging are significantly more common than we previously believed,” says Martin Iinatti Brengdahl, doctoral student in the Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology and principal author of the study.<\/p>\n\n

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Reproductive strategy drives slower female aging\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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\n More information:<\/strong>
\n “Deleterious mutations show increasing negative effects with age in Drosophila melanogaster”, Martin I. Brengdahl, Christopher M. Kimber, Phoebe Elias, Josephine Thompson and Urban Friberg, (2020), BMC Biology<\/i>, published online 30 September, DOI: 10.1186\/s12915-020-00858-5<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n
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\n Link\u00f6ping University
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Citation<\/strong>:
\n Mutations that affect aging: More common than we thought? (2020, September 29)
\n retrieved 29 September 2020
\n from https:\/\/phys.org\/news<\/a>\/2020-09-mutations-affect-aging-common-thought.html<\/p>\n

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\n part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n