“In past experiments, meddling with this versatile pathway to exploit its beneficial effects on aging and life span inevitably invited a host of problems.”
“So, the central question became whether we would be able to genetically manipulate one element of the pathway without disrupting its additional functions. In this regard, we thought that the life extending function of this pathway would be elusive, whereas the developmental and reproductive functions would be more amenable. We were delighted to find that Smk-1 proved to be specific for the one function we thought the most elusive.”
“In the future, we may use this protein as a tool to study the genetic and metabolic requirements for extending longevity without causing diverse, wide-ranging effects on the development and maintenance of the physiological equilibrium in the organism.”
