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Biotech Science

Yoda The Mouse Turns 4 61

Posted by timothy from the beats-dog-years dept.
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?"
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Yoda The Mouse Turns 4 More

Yoda The Mouse Turns 4

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  • Yoda (Score:3, Funny)

    by dont_think_twice ( 731805 ) on Monday April 12, 2004 @09:33PM (#8843584) Homepage
    Four years old, and he can still jump around do all those backflips? That is amazing.

  • Longevity and diet (Score:5, Interesting)

    by FlyingOrca ( 747207 ) on Monday April 12, 2004 @09:34PM (#8843588) Journal
    Hmm, this makes me think of long-lived individuals from Japan. Seems to me that the traditional Japanese diet would, overall, have a very low glycemic index, and that could in turn promote long life as in this mouse. Anyone know more about this?

    • Re:Longevity and diet (Score:4, Interesting)

      by WolfWithoutAClause ( 162946 ) on Monday April 12, 2004 @09:50PM (#8843683) Homepage
      Japanese generally eat a lot of rice- which has a pretty high glycemic index in fact; not dissimilar to bread. The Japanese average life expectancy is only a few year higher than America's.

      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.

      • Yeah, I knew that about the rice. I wonder if it's bleached or brown that they eat; probably makes a difference. I was thinking more overall insulin release from their diet, though.

        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)

          by WolfWithoutAClause ( 162946 ) on Monday April 12, 2004 @10:44PM (#8844026) Homepage
          I wonder if it's bleached or brown that they eat; probably makes a difference.

          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).

      • OTOH, those living in Yokinawa ... live a long while; orders of magnitude more over 90.
        Woah! 900 years old! that's amazing!!!
        • He said "orders" not "an order".

          He's talking about at least 9000 years. Sweet potatoes will keep you going for a looong time...
        • Woah! 900 years old! that's amazing!!!

          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 ;-)

      • It's also important to note that often "average life expentancies" produces confusing implications, because "average life expectancy" doesn't necessarily mean how old someone will be before he/she dies of old age, but is simply the AVERAGE of people dying of old age as well as people dying of car accidents, cancer, jumping off cliffs, etc.

        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)
        • 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).

          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

      • orders of magnitude more over 90.

        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?

  • Slower metabolism = longer life? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by StateOfTheUnion ( 762194 ) on Monday April 12, 2004 @09:36PM (#8843600) Homepage
    I remember a professor in university that said that one of the easiest way to increase lifespan was to consume about 20% less . . . it would slow down the metabolism and extend one's life if practiced over a lifetime. This was theorized as the reason why some Tibetan monks typically live much longer than other people living in the same area . . .

    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)

      by devphil ( 51341 )


      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.

    • Not necessarily 33% less, just 33% slower I think. It seems to me that animals with slower heart rates, and metabolisms live longer.

      "The average life expectancy of an elephant in the wild is 60 - 70 years, whereas it is around 70 - 80 years in domesticated ones." [http://www.wildlywise.com/ele_text.htm]

      "Male Killer Whales have a life expectancy of 50 to 60 years, females however have a life expectancy of 90 years." [http://www.usd314.k12.ks.us/curriculum7/whales/wh ales.html]

      The sea Turtle: "A matu

      • This is true in most cases. One exception to the rule that i know of is with birds. Avian metabolism (particularly that of Parrots) is closely being studied for breaking the generalized paradigm of higher metabolism or faster heart-rate means shorter lifespan.

        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
        • Since longer-liver parrots have only been domesticated for a few generations, the "average" lifespan is not actually exactly known.

          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.

    • There was an article in Sciam (August 2002 "The Serious Search for an Anti-Aging Pill") that discussed caloric restriction as a way to prolong life. Across the board, short-lifespan animals (fruit flys, rats, mice, hamsters, spiders, worms, etc), a reduced calorie diet extended the life span (both maximum and group average against the control). The researchers hypothesized that the reduced calories led to reduced sugar metabolism (lower insulin levels in the blood) and that the cells stayed in the Go phas

  • Of Mice and Men... (Score:4, Funny)

    by phraktyl ( 92649 ) * <wyattNO@SPAMdraggoo.com> on Monday April 12, 2004 @09:40PM (#8843625) Homepage Journal
    Oh sure, the mouse gets a reduction in insulin, and he's still going strong after twice his normal life span.

    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.
    • Also as a Type 1 diabetic, I might expect a restricted lifespan from the side-effects, but I would also expect my lifespan to be extended if I had all the benefits Yoda does.

      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)

    by waytoomuchcoffee ( 263275 ) on Monday April 12, 2004 @09:43PM (#8843647)
    No way in hell would I want to be full of vigor at 136 and snuggling up to Princess Leia every day, especially if she was wearing her Return of the Jedi outfit.

  • Lucky Bastard (Score:5, Funny)

    by Aoverify ( 566411 ) on Monday April 12, 2004 @09:46PM (#8843662) Homepage
    "Yoda is still mobile, sexually active and "looking good," said Dr. Richard A. Miller"

    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.

  • come on, someone has to say it (Score:5, Funny)

    by secolactico ( 519805 ) on Monday April 12, 2004 @09:48PM (#8843676) Journal
    "When four years old you reach, look as good you will not. Hmm?"

  • Sub-etha (Score:2, Funny)

    by NanoGator ( 522640 )
    Still, I don't think this will save us from the Vogons.

  • That's nothing! (Score:3, Funny)

    by flikx ( 191915 ) on Monday April 12, 2004 @09:59PM (#8843726) Homepage Journal

    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)

    by mrgeometry ( 689087 ) on Monday April 12, 2004 @10:10PM (#8843778)
    Audio report on this story (produced for Michigan Radio's Stateside program):

    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)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 12, 2004 @10:56PM (#8844108)
    This is a factual story that involves,

    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!).

  • Yoda... must snuggle up with Princess Leia

    Just the thought of Yoda and Princess Leia in bed together... I don't know whether to laugh or vomit.

  • Hah (Score:3, Funny)

    by psyconaut ( 228947 ) on Monday April 12, 2004 @11:12PM (#8844213)
    "Yoda's cage mate, Princess Leia, is a much larger female who uses her body warmth to keep the dwarf mouse from freezing to death. "

    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)

      by Snard ( 61584 )
      I used the same excuse with my ex-gf....."snuggle me with your ample bossom, or I'll freeze to death!" ;-)

      I hope you figured out that this is the reason she's your ex-gf.

  • 4? Big Deal (Score:4, Interesting)

    by John Hasler ( 414242 ) on Monday April 12, 2004 @11:28PM (#8844298) Homepage
    I had a pet wild mouse that made it to seven. He ran about a mile a day in his wheel, and ate mostly peanuts.
  • If you want to see more of this type of research which will eventually be applied to humans, you can contribute to the Methuselah Mouse Prize. This prize will be awarded to the longest lived mouse.

    http://www.methuselahmouse.org/
  • Sounds like something that appears in the begining of a sci-fi thriller.
    Anyway, yom huledet same'akh!
  • From Longevity Meme [longevitymeme.org]: As the founders of the Methuselah Mouse prize [methuselahmouse.org] realized, healthy life extension in mice is a yardstick by which the public measures possibilities for the future of human health and longevity. Long-lived mice will mean that long-lived people are not too far off. Aubrey de Grey thinks that we could largely defeat aging in mice [longevitymeme.org] in a decade, given the right level of funding - certainly food for thought.

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