Solar Powered Worms Show Us How We Might Live Longer, Healthier Lives

Scientists have engineered a roundworm to live a longer life.

The researchers from the US and Germany were able to extend the time sufficient energy could be provided to the cells by adding a light-sensitivetrigger to the power-converting organelles.

While the scientists emphasize that solar- powered humans are nowhere on the horizon, they do say that their work could have important implications for understanding our own aging, and for treating diseases and health issues that we're more at risk of as we get older.

Andrew Wojtovich is a physiologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

The study found that boosting metabolism using light- powered mitochondria gave worms longer, healthier lives.

Mitochondria facilitate chemical reactions based on the breakdown products of glucose, which results in a boost in adenosine triphosphate. As these reactions occur across the organelle's convoluted membranes, the efficiency of this process decreases with age.

The whole energy-conversion process was given a helping hand by the scientists in their new study. This pump was created from chemical reactions in a fungus.

The worms were able to live up to 40 percent longer than normal due to improved production of the molecule. The new engineering process is called mt ON.

Brandon Berry from the University of Washington in Seattle said that they hooked up a solar panel to the power plant infrastructure. The solar panel is used for optogenetics.

The light energy can be harnessed by the normalMitochondrial machinery to provide theATP.

This is an important insight into the functioning of the mitochondria. There's still a lot that scientists don't know about these small power plants.

The study addresses how the body begins to break down once the mitochondria run out of steam.

The fruit fly Drosophila can be used to research basic biological principles that can be applied to other organisms and animals. mtON may be able to work in larger creatures.

Berry says that they need to understand more about the behavior of the mitochondria in an animal. In the current study, first in worms, then in human cells, and finally in rodents.

The most likely players in human disease and aging will be targeted in future research.

The research was published in a journal.