FOR the first time, chemical changes that increase lifespan have been shown to pass from one generation to the next with no alteration to the DNA code itself.
of Stanford University in California and colleagues modified a key protein in the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans. The protein is part of the chromatin remodelling complex (CRC), which winds chromatin to reveal or conceal genes. This “epigenetic” modification altered the expression of genes linked to stress resistance, and increased the worms’ lifespan.
Although the worms’ DNA was not altered, the changes affecting the CRC were inherited by their descendants, which also lived longer than usual (Nature, ).
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Understanding how non-DNA markers are inherited could aid treatment for age-related diseases, Brunet suggests.