The fruit fly's life short. The average lifespan of a small insect with red eyes is about 45 days. Although short-lived, fruit flies were able to uncover the secret of why average women live longer than men.
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| Fruit flies can give clues to what happens in other species. (Picture from: http://www.sciencedaily.com/) |
Scientists believe in the body of the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster) are clues about the secret of eternal youth. They focused on mitochondrial DNA mutations, cell organelles that exist in virtually all animal cells and function converts food into energy for body cells.
"Mutations in mitochondria are inherited only from the mother, never from the father. So there's no way to get rid of mutations that potentially bad for men," say the researchers in the journal Current Biology on Monday (6 August 2012).
The researchers of this study, said there are many factors that determine the relationship between gender and age differences in life expectancy. At the age of 85 years, for example, comparison of the number of women and men in the UK is 3:2. At the age of 100 years, the ratio is more than two to one. "The tendency of women to live longer than men is also found in other species, not just humans."
In the study, experts from Monash University, and Lancaster University in England is analyzed mitochondria from 13 different groups of male and female fruit flies. The results show that mutations in mitochondrial DNA have much effect on growth rate and age of the individual fruit flies.
"Interestingly, this mutation does not have the same effect on the pattern of aging in females," said Damian Dowling, one of the researchers from Monash University. "Mutations in mitochondrial DNA lead to more rapid aging in the male individual in the entire animal world."
Dowling said that if the only adverse effect of individual males but not females, this mutation would escape from the view of natural selection without realizing it. "For thousands of generations, the mutation is only collected on an individual male, whereas in female individuals not to affect anything," he said. *** [SCIENCEDAILY | NHS | MAHARDIKA SATRIA HADI | KORAN TEMPO 3964]
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