Is there an anti-aging gene?
If you were a child or had a child sometime after 1985, then you may be familiar with Laura Joffe Numeroff’s book “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.” In the book, we learn that if you give a mouse the aforementioned cookie, he’ll want a glass of milk, which will lead into a whole host of requests on the part of the mouse — an entire laundry list of demands that might try the patience of even the most giving soul. The next time you’re considering giving a rodent a treat, though, consider this: If you don’t give that mouse the cookie, he could live forever. That’s not just the premise for another adorable children’s book; scientists have known since the 1930s that restricting the caloric intake of mice causes them to live much longer than they might otherwise. Same goes for other creatures, like worms and fruit flies. Now, you might be thinking that you don’t really care if mice live longer, particularly if they’re greedy creatures in constant need of milk and cookies, but what researchers
