New Aging Gene Discovered

(From the LEF News). Researchers have discovered another regulatory gene (named BubR1) involved in the aging process. "Mutant mice with low amounts of BubR1 protein live five times shorter than normal mice. They also develop a variety of age-related disorders at a very young age. This prompted us to investigate whether BubR1 protein levels go down as normal mice age naturally -- which is indeed what we found ... we believe it is the decline of this protein with time that may trigger some of the physiological effects of ageing." I expect that scientists will find this protein is involved in biochemistry already known to be related to the aging process - such as mitochondrial functions, or telomere regulation.

Link: http://www.lef.org/news/LefDailyNews.htm?NewsID=766&Section=AGING