Yoda The Mouse Turns 4 61
ChiralSoftware writes "Through some genetic engineering to reduce insulin output, Yoda the mouse has lived to over four years old, equivalent to 136 human years. Yoda is a third smaller than normal, and gets cold all the time so he must snuggle up with Princess Leia, his cage-mate, but he is alive and full of vigor at the ripe old age of 4. Who's next for insulin reduction?"
Yoda (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Yoda (Score:4, Funny)
Longevity and diet (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Longevity and diet (Score:4, Interesting)
OTOH, those living in Yokinawa often eat a lot of sweet potato. Sweet potato has a reasonably low glycemic index- the Yokinawian's live a long while; orders of magnitude more over 90.
Re:Longevity and diet (Score:3, Interesting)
Regarding average life expectancy, I wonder how the relative difference between the USA and Japan has changed as the Japanese diet has become more westernized. Maybe the exceptionally long-lived Japanese are those older folks who still follow a more traditional diet? Food for thought, anyway. No pun intended.
That's very int
Re:Longevity and diet (Score:4, Informative)
No, not terribly much. The glycemic index of white rice is 58, brown is 55 (lower is better; but this is a relatively modest difference.)
Also, a lot of people/magazines will tell you that brown bread has a lower GI than white. Whilst brown bread is higher in vitamins and minerals, it has substantially has the same GI as white (very slightly lower).
Re:Longevity and diet (Score:1)
Re:Longevity and diet (Score:2)
Re:Longevity and diet (Score:2)
Re:Longevity and diet (Score:2)
He's talking about at least 9000 years. Sweet potatoes will keep you going for a looong time...
Re:Longevity and diet (Score:2, Insightful)
He hasn't yet clarified his statement, but I took it to mean the number of people living past 90, not their actual age. Still an exaggeration, of course, but orders of magnitude less of one ;-)
Re:Longevity and diet (Score:2, Informative)
Thus, such variations in life expectancies could very well be caused by cultural factors like smoking and car use instead of the source of carbohydrates (wheat vs rice)
Re:Longevity and diet (Score:2)
Smoking maybe- that's seriously dangerous; although about 1/2 the population (irc) have genes that allow their bodies to deal with the smoke and not get cancer; however it probably still reduces lifespan somewhat.
Driving on the other hand; is comparatively safe. If I remember correctly if all diseases were wiped out we'd have a life expec
Re:Longevity and diet (Score:2)
God I love it when people use the term 'orders of magnitude' and have no idea what the hell they're talking about.
So are we talking 900 or 9000 years or more here? Or were you in base2 and meant 180 or 360 years?
Re:Longevity and diet (Score:2)
You just did. Congrats.
Re:Longevity and diet (Score:2)
Re:Longevity and diet (Score:1)
Slower metabolism = longer life? (Score:4, Interesting)
I wonder if this mouse is doing something similar, but its been genetically engineered to be well . . . about 33% less . . .
Insulin REDUCTION?? (Score:2, Interesting)
I'm diabetic. Type I, juvenile onset. I have less insulin produced in my body than that damn mouse has in its whole life. Yet the lack of a working pancreas will reduce my lifespan, not extend it. Certainly not to 130-odd years.
And I definitely won't get to snuggle up to Leia "just to keep warm".
Dammit, I wanna be a lab mouse when I grow up.
Re:Slower metabolism = longer life? (Score:1)
Re:Slower metabolism = longer life? (Score:1)
Since longer-liver parrots have only been domesticated for a few generations, the "average" lifespan is not actually exactly known. But very large numbers of larger parrots (such as Macaws) live well into their 80s and 90s, some past 100. Medium s
Re:Slower metabolism = longer life? (Score:1)
Man, I wish I had a longer liver... with the amount of drinking I do, an extra-long liver might just keep me alive longer.
Re:Slower metabolism = longer life? (Score:1)
Insulin is the start of a long chain (Score:4, Interesting)
And don't give up on this being useful. Have you followed the rate of improvement in assays and genetic screening, not to mention the huge leap in DNA sequencing? The way things are moving, we might be able to go from discovery of the biochemical basis of slower aging to confirmation in broad populations to "dietary supplements" that will give you many of the benefits in just a few years. Certified drugs will take longer, but you'll be able to use the same tests to confirm that your supplements are having the desired effect.
Re:Insulin is the start of a long chain (Score:1)
Re:Insulin is the start of a long chain (Score:1)
Of course, if we have a large population of fit, healthy 75 year olds, we should certainly be expecting them to earn their keep... as life expectancy increases, so must the retirement age.
Re:Insulin is the start of a long chain (Score:1)
Of Mice and Men... (Score:4, Funny)
And here, I don't produce insulin---found out I had Type I diabetes when I was 22---and do I get twice the life span? Heck no. I'll be lucky to make 50 at the rate I'm going.
What's up with that? Damned mice.
Re:Of Mice and Men... (Score:1)
Dietician-designed food within easy reach, doesn't need to work for a living, has (large) women brought to him, cared for by a team of doctors... what more do you need?
Well, maybe an internet connection.
Hell no (Score:3, Funny)
Lucky Bastard (Score:5, Funny)
Still sexually active? If I could live to the ripe old age of 136, I bet nobody in the world would have sex with me.
Re:Lucky Bastard (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Lucky Bastard (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Lucky Bastard (Score:5, Funny)
Old age had nothing to do with it.
You post on Slashdot, by age 136 you'll have had 136 years to get used to not getting sex.
Re:Lucky Bastard (Score:2)
When 136 years old you reach, look so good you will not. Hmph.
come on, someone has to say it (Score:5, Funny)
Sub-etha (Score:2, Funny)
That's nothing! (Score:3, Funny)
Wasn't Mr. Jingles just over 70 years old? That 4 year old mouse has a lot of catching up to do.
Natural genetic mutation, not genetic engineering! (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.michiganradio.org/stateside.asp [michiganradio.org]
Scroll down to April 9th and listen in Real Player (sorry). The relevant bit starts at the 32:00 mark. (Yeah, the whole thing is an hour long... sorry.)
Anyway, this report was produced locally here in Ann Arbor, by a friend of mine who interviewed Dr. Miller in person. The whole point is that the dwarf/long-lived mutation is in fact naturally occuring, **not** the result of genetic engineering.
(Also, the audio report suggests that the colony is much larger, but perhaps the older mice are sequestered from the rest of the colony, so the AP report might have that right; hard to say.)
zach
How is this not in the Main section? (Score:3, Funny)
1) Star Wars,
2) A steamy encounter between Yoda and Princess Leah,
and especially
3) A genetic modification that allows sexual prowess for nearly two standard lifetimes (and counting!).
What went through my mind... (Score:2, Interesting)
Just the thought of Yoda and Princess Leia in bed together... I don't know whether to laugh or vomit.
Hah (Score:3, Funny)
I used the same excuse with my ex-gf....."snuggle me with your ample bossom, or I'll freeze to death!"
-psy
Re:Hah (Score:2)
I hope you figured out that this is the reason she's your ex-gf.
Re:Hah (Score:2)
-psy
4? Big Deal (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Isn't that 136 MOUSE years??? (Score:1)
Methuselah Mouse Prize (Score:2, Interesting)
http://www.methuselahmouse.org/
That mouse... It's a bit scary, isn't it? (Score:1)
Anyway, yom huledet same'akh!
Long-lived people are not too far off (Score:1)