Research

Hormonal

Reduced insulin/IGF-1 signaling (IIS) extends lifespan across species by conserving specific biological processes—specifically, the down-regulation of protein biosynthesis and the up-regulation of cellular detoxification (including GSTs)—rather than by conserving specific orthologous genes.

Focus on maintaining healthy insulin sensitivity and cellular detoxification pathways rather than searching for a single 'magic bullet' gene. Interventions that reduce insulin signaling (like caloric restriction or specific pharmacological agents) may promote longevity by triggering these conserved process-level responses (reduced protein synthesis, increased detoxification) rather than by acting on a single specific gene target.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
These processes represent candidate, regulated mechanisms of longevity-control that are conserved across animal species. The longevity assurance mechanisms via which IIS acts appear to be lineage-specific at the gene level (private), but conserved at the process level (or semi-public).
Joshua McElwee et al. · Genome biology · 2007

Why this rating

High-quality cross-species comparative transcriptomic analysis (worm, fly, mouse) using rigorous statistical methods (Catmap, bootstrapping).

Source

Evolutionary conservation of regulated longevity assurance mechanisms

Joshua McElwee et al. · Genome biology · 2007

DOI 10.1186/gb-2007-8-7-r132

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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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