Cynthia Kenyon
Cynthia Kenyon
Cynthia Jane Kenyonis an American molecular biologist and biogerontologist known for her genetic dissection of aging in a widely used model organism, the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScientist
CountryUnited States of America
genes life organisms perhaps regulate run speeds universal
Perhaps genes did regulate the aging process. Perhaps different organisms had different life spans because a universal regulatory 'clock' was set to run at different speeds in different species.
almost half humans longer penalty smell suffer superior
Humans live a lot longer than dogs, and we don't suffer any penalty that I can see. We're superior in almost every way - they can smell better. But really, they can't drive cars, they can't do half the things we can. I don't understand why you can't live longer and be really fit.
kids looked quite realize seeking time took truth
I was one of those kids who was always seeking the truth, and I first looked for truth by reading novels. It took quite a long time for me to realize there are better ways.
seeker truth
I was a little truth seeker as a child. I wanted more than anything to understand myself and also other people.
eventually people small trying youthful
We are trying to find drugs, small molecules, that people could take to make them disease-resistant, more youthful and healthy. Eventually we will find them.
convert days developing food lots produces resources single soon strategies three time worm worms
There are lots of different strategies that an animal can use to survive. What a worm does is try to convert food into worms as soon as possible. In three days a single worm produces 300 progeny. So why put your resources into developing if you can make a brand-new worm in no time at all?
fascinated
The public is absolutely fascinated by aging. They don't want to get old. And you can see - read Shakespeare. Read the sonnets. They're all about aging.
fewer good healthy life living longer might sick turn
Just living longer and being sick is the worst. But the idea that you could have fewer diseases, and just have a healthy life and then turn out the lights, that's a good vision to have. And I think what we know about some of these pathways suggests that might be possible.
human imagining
It's like, say, if you were a dog. You notice that you're getting old, and you look at your human and you think, 'Why isn't this human getting old?'... But now we're the human looking out and imagining a different human.
change double gene human life possible rule
It's possible that we could change a human gene and double our life span. I don't know if that's true, but we can't rule that out.
change mutant worms
With worms you can just change genes at random and see if you can find a mutant that does what you want it to do.
age biggest factor gives huge likely meaning preventive tumor
Age is the biggest risk factor for many diseases. You're 100 times more likely to get a tumor at age 65 than age 35. It makes a huge difference. It gives a whole new meaning to preventive medicine.
ideas unexpected ageing
The idea that ageing was subject to control was completely unexpected.
normal mutation worms
In the early '90s, we discovered mutations that could double the normal life span of worms.