Worm research sheds light on aging process

No, not the electronic worms we have been staving off lately…

The article linked here reports on research that focuses on worms because they, like humans and all other creatures, share the identical class of molecules — called “small heat shock proteins’.’

The newly discovered class of molecules plays a crucial caretaking role in cells: maintaining the shape of cellular proteins, on which all life forms are built.

These scientists genetically engineered worms to produce more of these proteins resulting in a doubling of the lifespan, qualitatively as well as quantitatively.

The full article will be available on the Web for a limited time: Mercury News