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The Raelian Movement
for those who are not afraid of the future : http://www.rael.org
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Biological 'Fountain Of Youth' Found In New World Bat Caves
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090630101229.htm

ScienceDaily (July 1, 2009) — Scientists from Texas are batty over a
new discovery which could lead to the single most important medical
breakthrough in human history—significantly longer lifespans. The
discovery, featured on the cover of the July 2009 print issue of The
FASEB Journal, shows that proper protein folding over time in
long-lived bats explains why they live significantly longer than other
mammals of comparable size, such as mice.

"Ultimately we are trying to discover what underlying mechanisms allow
for some animal species to live a very long time with the hope that we
might be able to develop therapies that allow people to age more
slowly," said Asish Chaudhuri, Professor of Biochemistry, VA Medical
Center, San Antonio, Texas and the senior researcher involved in the
work.

Asish and colleagues made their discovery by extracting proteins from
the livers of two long-lived bat species (Tadarida brasiliensis and
Myotis velifer) and young adult mice and exposed them to chemicals
known to cause protein misfolding. After examining the proteins, the
scientists found that the bat proteins exhibited less damage than
those of the mice, indicating that bats have a mechanism for
maintaining proper structure under extreme stress.

"Maybe Juan Ponce De León wasn't too far off the mark when he searched
Florida for the Fountain of Youth," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D.,
Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal. "As it turns out, one of these
bat species lives out its long life in Florida. Since bats are rodents
with wings, this chemical clue as to why bats beat out mice in the
aging game should point scientists to the source of this elusive
fountain."

Journal reference:

1. Salmon et al. The long lifespan of two bat species is correlated
with resistance to protein oxidation and enhanced protein homeostasis.
The FASEB Journal, 2009; 23 (7): 2317 DOI: 10.1096/fj.08-122523

Adapted from materials provided by Federation of American Societies
for Experimental Biology, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.