Scientists discover human ageing gene in fruit flies

Published: Monday, May 12, 2008, 12:17 [IST]

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Washington, May 12 : Researchers from University of Oxford and The Open University have found a gene in fruit flies that would give a fast and effective way to investigate important aspects of human ageing.

Dr Lynne Cox and Dr Robert Saunders have discovered the human aging gene in fruit flies, which means the flies could now be used as a model to study the effects ageing has on DNA.

"We study a premature human ageing disease called Werner syndrome to help us understand normal ageing. The key to this disease is that changes in a single gene (called WRN) mean that patients age very quickly," said Dr Cox from the University of Oxford.

"Scientists have made great progress in working out what this gene does in the test tube, but until now we haven't been able to investigate the gene to look at its effect on development and the whole body.

By working on this gene in fruit flies, we can model human ageing in a powerful experimental system," Cox added.

The fruit flies would help the researchers in understanding the ageing process along with critical aspects at cellular, genetic and biochemical levels.

"This work shows for the first time that we can use the short-lived fruit fly to investigate the function of an important human ageing gene," said Dr Robert Saunders from The Open University,

"We have opened up the exciting possibility of using this model system to analyse the way that such genes work in a whole organism, not just in single cells, he added.

The researchers have identified the fruit fly equivalent of the key human ageing gene known as WRN. They find that flies with damage to this gene share important features with people suffering from the rapid ageing condition Werner syndrome, who also have damage to the WRN gene.

In particular, the DNA, or genetic blueprint, is unstable in the flies that have the damaged version of the gene and the chromosomes are often altered. The researchers show that the fly's DNA becomes rearranged, with genes being swapped between chromosomes.

In patients with Werner syndrome, this genome instability leads to cancer. Cells derived from Werner syndrome patients are extremely sensitive to a drug often used to treat cancers: the researchers show that the flies that have the damaged gene are killed by even very low doses of the drug.

"Fruit flies are already used as a model for the genetics behind mechanisms that underlie normal functioning of the human body and it is great news that this powerful research tool can be applied to such an important area of study into human health," said Professor Nigel Brown, Director of Science and Technology, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.