Investigating Sex Chromosome Effects on Longevity in Mice

The well-known difference in longevity between genders, in which females live longer than males, is not peculiar to our species. It is present in most gendered species examined to date, which strongly suggests that these differences in the pace of aging arise quite robustly from the interaction of evolutionary pressures with gender roles in mating and reproduction. Males can achieve reproductive fitness by investing resources into mating sooner rather than later, while for females greater fitness arises through investing resources to retain the capacity to mate successfully over time. The male candle burns brighter and less long. This is an overly simple summary of a complicated and much debated area of research, however. The research reported here is an interesting addition to the literature on this topic. Some years ago the scientific community engineered mouse lineages with a mix of sex chromosomes and gonads, so as to obtain physically male mice with female sex chromosomes, and vice versa. Most mammals have two sex chromosomes, X and Y, producing XX chromosome females and XY chromosome males. This allows researchers to split out the contribution of sex chromosomes versus gonads for most gender differences, and determine relative level of importance. Here the researchers have chosen to focus on differences in the pace of aging, running a lifespan study on mice with different combinations of sex chromosomes and gonads. Unsurprisingly, both female sex chromosomes and ...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs