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Scientists find what type of genes affect longevity

Tracing all the genetic changes that flow from a single mutation, UCSF scientists have identified the kinds of genes and systems in the body that ultimately allow a doubling of lifespan in the roundworm, C. elegans. Humans share many of these genes, and the researchers think the new findings offer clues to increasing human youthfulness and longevity as well.

Donor cells from new source ignored by the immune system

Researchers at Kansas State University have successfully transplanted cells from one species to another without triggering an immune system rejection response or requiring drugs to suppress the immune system. This hopeful news for transplant medicine is reported in the online edition of the journal Experimental Neurology, published by Elsevier. Researchers transplanted umbilical cord matrix stem cells from a pig into the brain of a live rat, and for reasons they as yet do not understood, the recipient’s immune system did not detect nor reject the foreign cells, which survived for more than six weeks. No drugs were used to suppress the immune response.