Genes, pathways and metabolism in ageing

The isolation of single gene mutations that not only extend lifespan but also delay the onset of age-related pathology in model organisms has been instrumental in identifying key cellular processes that underlie ageing. Several of these mutations affect components of evolutionarily conserved metabolic pathways including the insulin-like growth factor/insulin signaling (IIS) and target of rapamycin (TOR) pathways. The challenges now are to understand the molecular and biochemical signaling events that mediate the observed increase in healthy lifespan when signaling via such pathways is perturbed, to identify potential targets for therapeutic interventions that could potentially be translated to humans with minimal side effects.