A new view of aging: How the immune system rewrites rapid aging New research shows that dialing down an overactive immune sensor can restore tissue health in severe genetic disorders, reshaping how scientists think about aging and DNA damage.

A new view of aging: How the immune system rewrites rapid aging.

Read the new #genesdev paper, online now ahead of print:
➡️ https://ow.ly/kCbl50YKyO8

https://ow.ly/NksN50YKyO6

Out today is our paper 'Genomic history of early dogs in Europe', in which we uncover the identity of the dogs that lived in Europe before agriculture—during the Paleolithic & Mesolithic periods: doi.org/10.1038/s415.... A thread ⬇️ (10)

@biouea.bsky.social @crick.ac.uk @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social

A clock that measures the aging of nerve cells finds molecules that protect against age-related neurodegeneration Using an aging clock, researchers from the University of Cologne have used the Caenorhabditis elegans model organism to demonstrate that nerve cells age differently. They identified both the causes of...

www.uni-koeln.de/en/universit...

Aging clocks delineate neuron types vulnerable or resilient to neurodegeneration and identify neuroprotective interventions - Nature Aging Gallrein et al. pair functional assays with clocks to compare chronological versus biological age of single neuron types in C. elegans, to probe their vulnerability or resilience to neurodegeneration,...

🧠⏰our latest paper is out now: how each neuron ages differently allowed us to define in silico screens for new therapeutic molecules that could prevent neurodegeneration @cecad.bsky.social @unicologne.bsky.social @uniklinikkoeln.bsky.social @meyerdh.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s43...

Diverging transposon activity among polar bear sub-populations inhabiting different climate zones - Mobile DNA Mobile DNA - A new subpopulation of polar bears (Ursus maritimus) was recently discovered in the South-East of Greenland. This isolated colony inhabits a warmer climate zone, akin to the predicted...

🐻‍❄️❄️ New paper alert! From me Ben & @immler.bsky.social
“Diverging transposon activity among polar bear sub-populations inhabiting different climate zones” (Godden, Rix & Immler, 2025). 👉 link.springer.com/article/10.1...
A thread 🧵.
#climate #transposons #TESky #polarbear #ursus
@biouea.bsky.social

Very happy to share this large-scale study from my postdoc with @alexeimaklakov.bsky.social. Lifespan-extending downregulation of insulin signalling reduces germline mutation load. Many thanks to our collaborators @alicegodden.bsky.social @immler.bsky.social Johnny de Coriolis and Hanne Carlsson.

Article from The Guardian titled "Red squirrels expand across Highlands after 10-year reintroduction drive" overlayed on an image of woodland. Background image credit: Neil McIntyre / scotlandbigpicture.com

Red squirrels are returning to the Scottish Highlands 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

@treesforlife.bsky.social’s 10-year reintroduction programme has seen hundreds of individuals moved to new homes and their range across the Highlands expand by more than a quarter.

🧵1/3

Before trips to Mars, we need better protection from cosmic rays High-energy particles streaming through space can damage DNA and increase cancer risk, but antioxidants, tardigrades and hibernation could help astronauts make the journey safely.

High-energy particles streaming through space can damage DNA and increase cancer risk, but antioxidants, tardigrades and hibernation could help astronauts make the journey safely.

Multilingualism protects against accelerated aging in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of 27 European countries - Nature Aging In cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of 86,149 participants across 27 European countries, Amoruso, Hernandez and colleagues identify multilingualism as a protective factor against accelerated ...

www.nature.com/articles/s43...

1/6 In a new preprint we ask a question:

Why do males and females so often age and die at different rates?

We argue that sex-specific mutation accumulation may be the most parsimonious evolutionary explanation for sex-biased ageing:

ecoevorxiv.org/repository/v...

1/ Evolutionary trade-offs between intergenerational and transgenerational fitness effects

Transgenerational / intergeneration fitness effects can be adaptive, but they can also trade-off with each other:

New work led by Isaac Harris, preprint:

tinyurl.com/yp2b6tjm

New preprint! We unexpectedly discovered that some Caenorhabditis species delete parts of their somatic genome early in development, which fragments their chromosomes and eliminates key germline genes. Multiple lines of evidence suggest this bizarre process was present in the ancestors of C. elegans

Rewarding touch limits lifespan through neural to intestinal signaling | PNAS In multicellular organisms, sensory perception affects many aspects of behavior and physiology. Perception of environmental stressors like food sca...

www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Excited to share our new work on transgenerational adaptation www.science.org/doi/epdf/10.... out today spearheaded by outstanding former undergraduate @kathleenkim.bsky.social. C. elegans adapt to repeated generational stresses and no longer display altered fertility, fat content, + longevity 1/9

elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...

Working model of the hypoxia-mediated longevity pathway.

Mild stresses on the body, like fasting or cold exposure, can delay ageing. But how?

A new Insight Article explores how oxygen-sensing neurons in C. elegans trigger body-wide stress signals that boost resilience and extend lifespan.
buff.ly/wJIQKfm

Four large circular bulbs are spread out like a square. Between the colourful bulbs, and in the background, are long, differently-coloured tendrils, which take up most of the rest of the image.

This image shows neurons being grown on a surface with tiny patterns that resemble human tissue to ‘steer’ their growth.

Models like this allow us to learn more about our nervous system and conditions like motor neurone disease.
Image credit: Cathleen Hagemann and @andreaserio.bsky.social

Why does the naked mole rat have the longest lifespan of any rodent, nearly 40 years?
A 30-year long mystery unraveled @ScienceMagazine today!
Its cGAS enzyme in cells has 4 missense mutations that upends its function, promoting DNA repair and suppressing inflammation
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

What Jane Goodall Taught Us About Living a Long Life Jane Goodall, who died on Wednesday at the age of 91, followed several principles that geriatricians recommend for a long

dnyuz.com/2025/10/02/w...

New technique to speed up the design of drugs targeting proteins in the cell membrane - Quadram Institute An team has developed a new technique that will speed up the design of drugs targeting ion channels, a type of cell membrane protein

“This study is particularly important to me as it took place during my post doc years at the @uniofeastanglia.bsky.social and it has been a source of inspiration for my current research line, as a newly appointed Early Career Fellow at the Quadram Institute."

💬 Dr Serena Monaco

Lysosomes signal through the epigenome to regulate longevity across generations The epigenome is sensitive to metabolic inputs and is crucial for aging. Lysosomes act as a signaling hub to sense metabolic cues and regulate longevity. We found that lysosomal metabolic pathways sig...

www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Shrinking to bird size with dinosaur-level cancer defences: Evolution of cancer suppression over macroevolutionary time Author summary Humans are not the only species suffering from cancer, yet cancer does not impact all life equally. Body size is relevant because maintaining a large number of cells in a tumour-free st...

New paper out! 🤩 "Shrinking to bird size with dinosaur-level cancer defences: Evolution of cancer suppression over macroevolutionary time" with @kokkonut.bsky.social and @marcanthonytollis.bsky.social. doi.org/10.1371/jour... A short thread:

Why does eating less extend lifespan? 🧬

Mutation accumulation underpins evolution of lifespan extension by dietary restriction

We often think about saving energy or recycling waste - but we show how evolution acting on mutation load can generate longer life on low food 🧵

🔗 tinyurl.com/jn5ryhxv

Anti-ageing drug rapamycin may extend life almost as effectively as restricting calories – our new research Scientists compared diet, rapamycin and metformin in search for longevity boost.

In my latest piece for @uk.theconversation.com, I explain our latest research with @eivimeycook.bsky.social and @alexeimaklakov.bsky.social on how eating less, rapamycin and metformin affect lifespan.

Read it here: theconversation.com/anti-ageing-...

#ageing #longevity #sciencecommunication

Rapamycin, Not Metformin, Mirrors Dietary Restriction‐Driven Lifespan Extension in Vertebrates: A Meta‐Analysis The authors provide evidence that, together with Dietary Restriction, Rapamcyin and not Metformin, provides a significant lifespan extension in vertebrates.

New paper!

"Rapamycin, Not Metformin, Mirrors Dietary Restriction-Driven Lifespan Extension in Vertebrates: A Meta-Analysis"

tinyurl.com/yc6pkmbe

Using meta-analysis, we examined the average lifespan extension conferred by dietary restriction (DR), Metformin, and Rapamycin.

. @pnas.org just published the final version of our manuscript on how generation time and effective population size interact to shape vertebrate germline mutation rates, led by Luke Zhu and Annabel Beichman: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

This is a really great compilation - full of stories of wonder and joy.
But it's the words of Roger Hallam that hit me hardest: "David has shown us how beautiful the world is beyond words. And also taught us that words alone will not save what is left to save."

Fasting for weight loss is all the rage: what are the health benefits? Intermittent fasting has gained a following, in part because of tantalizing hints that it can boost cognition, fend off cancer and even slow ageing.

Does intermittent fasting improve health outcomes?
It's not clearcut.
A very good review of what is known @nature.com
open-access.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Drosophila follicle showing retrotransposons (pink & yellow) expressed in somatic cells infecting the oocyte

1/ Transposable elements are often called "jumping genes" because they mobilize within genomes. 🧬
But did you know they can also jump 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 cells? 🤯
Our new study reveals how retrotransposons invade the germline directly from somatic cells.
www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
A short thread 🧵👇

A cute aged fly, despite my mom thinking it’s a bee.

In my first Drosophila study at @salehlabparis.bsky.social, we found that:

1. Enteric viral infections accelerate aging.
2. Even if the infection is cleared, aging process remains triggered.
3. Accelerated aging correlates with reduced lifespan.

📑Preprint: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...