From Deseret News archives:
New drugs fostering high hopes
Sirtuin activators may prolong health, life span
But is the promise a mirage or a serious possibility?
The drugs are designed to mimic the effects of caloric restriction, a low calorie but healthful diet known to make laboratory mice live longer and more healthily but is too hard for all but the most ascetic of humans to keep to. One such drug, resveratrol, also a very minor ingredient of red wine, hit the headlines last week with a report by David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School and colleagues that it negates the bad effects of a high-fat diet in mice.
Behind the proposed new drugs lies some 15 years of research, much of it by Leonard Guarente of MIT and a talented but fractious group of former students, several of whom have presumed to challenge aspects of his ideas. The research has now reached a point at which at least two companies, Elixir Pharmaceuticals and Sirtris, are trying to develop drugs based in whole or in part on its implications.
Nor is it clear that the genetic mechanism that Guarente believes is responsible for the effects of caloric restriction, a group of genes known as the SIRT family, is the only one involved. Some biologists suspect that drugs like resveratrol may act not through the SIRT genes but in some other way, which would mean the results reported last week give no support to the idea that the SIRT genes mediate the response to caloric restriction.
Finally, the benefits of caloric restriction are assumed to have evolved as a strategy for switching resources between reproduction and tissue maintenance. Such a mechanism would greatly help an organism ride out successive waves of feast and famine. That would explain why mice on caloric restriction generally become infertile.
So it is somewhat puzzling that the fat mice fed resveratrol by Sinclair showed no decline in fertility. Nor have female rhesus monkeys that have been eating a reduced-calorie diet since 1987, scientists at the National Institute on Aging reported recently. If there's no trade-off between longevity and fertility, the theory of the evolution of caloric restriction could be wrong or incomplete.
Comments
- TSA gets Grinchy with snow globes 4:34 p.m.
- Luxury resort in depressed Rhode Is. 4:34 p.m.
- Jones' joy for life remembered 4:09 p.m.
- 'A Christmas Story' opens this week 4:05 p.m.
- Fantasy is reality for BYU professor 4:05 p.m.
- Special exhibits and programs 4:05 p.m.
- Art gallery exhibitions this week 4:05 p.m.
- 'The Nutcracker' tradition of change 4:05 p.m.
- Ballet West sponsors coat drive 4:05 p.m.
- Utah concert calendar 4:05 p.m.
- Cave to be sealed with body inside
- Predicting the unpredictable: BYU wins
- Vegas, Poinsettia bowls or bust
- Glover gives Utes last-second upset
- BYU football: 5 keys to victory
- Cougars turn back Wildcats'
- Man trapped in Nutty Putty cave dies
- Running game key to BYU offense
- Budget cuts won't help in 2011
- Efforts to save a life praised
- BYU would like friendlier rivalry
272 - Thunder rolls by Jazz
136 - Letters: Rushing to judge Palin
134 - Boys basketball rankings
134 - Editorial: Poor welcome for Palin
113 - Cave to be sealed with body inside
112 - Man trapped in Nutty Putty cave dies
111 - Letters: Trump card for believers
98 - Rivalry Week is highly profane
88 - Utah, BYU are top choices for bowls
76
When I was a kid, I worshipped my grandpa. He was undoubtedly my hero....
did they listen to you? Or did you know something in advance? Because they...
posting your witticisms here too! By all means - let's drag out good old...
the church was able to reach out to many Children in the community which...
sloan never intendrd to trade boz. and everybody figured he would play good...
you are certainly a shining example of a student who attended a teacher's...
I always compare every version of the Nutcracker to the Ballet West...
I agree with frustated - I am sad for the families loss, but I'm also sad for...
Guess what, kids love caves but this one should have been closed long ago....
I didn't mean to be anonymous. What a wonderful portrayal of the Christ of...
Clearly eating disorders and the model mentality is dangerous, but I think a...



You can be the first to comment on this story.