Hope for Eternal Life: Can This Fish Prevent People From Growing Old?

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It sounds like science fiction, but it is reality: the Zimbabwe killifish can survive without water. This is the only way he can still exist. Because: During the rainy season, the ponds in Mozambique where the fish live become full. But during the months-long drought they dry out completely.

Meanwhile, the killifish embryos bury themselves in the dry mud. They survive the drought by halting their own development during the so-called ‘diapause’. When the water returns after a maximum of eight months, the embryos develop into adult fish without any problems. In the newspaper ‘Der Bund’, Anne Brunet, professor at Stanford University, says: ‘When they wake up from diapause, they are doing fine.’

Secret of an eternal fountain of youth?

For years, researchers have wanted to know how embryos manage to pause their lives. This could also slow human aging. Simply put, the aging process occurs because errors in cell division accumulate over the years. “Finding out how killifish embryos manage to retain their cells for a long time could provide clues about how we can keep human cells, tissues or organs healthy in the long term.”

The geneticist’s team has already discovered that during diapause the fish activate genes that protect and package their DNA. This reduces the activity of other genes that control cell division and organ development.

Similar changes in DNA packaging have also been found in hibernating animals. Brune’s team now wants to conduct further research to find out how individual organs synchronize the aging process – and how these results can be transferred to us humans. “We hope that at some point we will really understand what exactly happens as we get older.” (Mrs)

Source: Blick