A Longevity Regulator Gene?

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It's good to see that the Paul F. Glenn Laboratories for the Biological Mechanisms of Aging is already appearing on published research. Via PubMed: "Eukaryotes have evolved elaborate mechanisms to survive periods of adversity. By manipulating genes that control these mechanisms, researchers have found they can generate more stress resistant, longer-lived organisms. One of these is the PNC1 gene of [budding yeast], a master 'longevity regulatory gene' that translates a variety of environmental stresses into lifespan extension by activating the sirtuin family of longevity deacetylases. ... We propose that there is a functional equivalent of PNC1 in mammals called Nampt (a.k.a. PBEF/Visfatin), a stress-responsive gene that would coordinately regulate metabolism, cell defenses, and resistance to diseases of aging." There are those who see this sort of metabolic research as a dead-end: interesting and useful within its range, but not likely to produce ongoing significant healthy life extension.

Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&list_uids=16842957