The Lifespan Observations Database

Over the years a great many studies have been conducted using laboratory animals with the aim of recording changes in life span that result from drugs, genetic alterations, and environmental conditions. The shorter-lived and less costly to maintain the species, the more studies there are - probably thousands for nematode worms, for example.

If you feel like browsing through the stacks to gain an impression of the work that has taken place over the past few decades, allow me to point you to the Lifespan Observations Database, which "collects published lifespan data across multiple species." It isn't a complete reference, but contains thousands of entries. Here are counts by species:

Browsing the entries shows change in life span and other items of interest. For example, picking one at random for mice:

Species: Mus musculus

Strain: 129 SvEv

Lifespan: 815 days

Reference Lifespan: 761 days

Lifespan Change: 7.1%

Lifespan Measure: median

Lifespan Effect: increased

Significance: significant

Citation: Migliaccio E, Giorgio M, Mele S, Pelicci G, Reboldi P, Pandolfi PP, Lanfrancone L, Pelicci PG. (1999). The p66shc adaptor protein controls oxidative stress response and life span in mammals.. Nature 402: 309-13. [pubmed]

Details: Mice mutant for p66shc have increased life span of 30%. Homozygous mutants are longer-lived than heterozygotes.

Other phenotypes: p66shc -/- cells are more resistant to apoptosis induced by hydrogen peroxide and UV light. p66shc -/- mice are more resistant to oxidative stress induced by paraquat,

You might compare this with some of the other online databases that have been mentioned here in the past, and are interesting to look through:

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