Altered Mouse Turns 136 in Human Years
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - A dwarf mouse named Yoda has celebrated his fourth birthday, making him the oldest of his kind and far beyond 100 in human years, the University of Michigan Medical School says.
Yoda owes his longevity to genetic modifications that affected his pituitary and thyroid glands and reduced insulin production and which left him a third smaller than an average mouse and very sensitive to cold.
On the other hand, at the human equivalent of about 136 years, Yoda is still mobile, sexually active and "looking good,"
said Dr. Richard A. Miller, associate director of research at the school's geriatrics center.
Yoda lives in a carefully maintained lab with roughly 100 other male geriatric mice being used for a lifespan study. An average lab mouse lives slightly more than two years.
Yoda's cage mate, Princess Leia, is a much larger female who uses her body warmth to keep the dwarf mouse from freezing to death.
Researchers are studying the genetic mutants to determine how altered hormone levels can slow the aging process, with the hope of figuring out which methods, if any, eventually could be applied to humans.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - A dwarf mouse named Yoda has celebrated his fourth birthday, making him the oldest of his kind and far beyond 100 in human years, the University of Michigan Medical School says.
Yoda owes his longevity to genetic modifications that affected his pituitary and thyroid glands and reduced insulin production and which left him a third smaller than an average mouse and very sensitive to cold.
On the other hand, at the human equivalent of about 136 years, Yoda is still mobile, sexually active and "looking good,"
said Dr. Richard A. Miller, associate director of research at the school's geriatrics center.Yoda lives in a carefully maintained lab with roughly 100 other male geriatric mice being used for a lifespan study. An average lab mouse lives slightly more than two years.
Yoda's cage mate, Princess Leia, is a much larger female who uses her body warmth to keep the dwarf mouse from freezing to death.
Researchers are studying the genetic mutants to determine how altered hormone levels can slow the aging process, with the hope of figuring out which methods, if any, eventually could be applied to humans.
