Key points from article :
Senescence increase with age along with other age-related changes.
Differences in the pace of senescence change how age affects an organism.
Researchers used bigmouth buffalo fish to investigate how aging affects several physiological traits and telomere length.
These fish live for at least 112 years and can be accurately aged by counting growth rings known as ‘earstones’.
Measured the ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes (NLR), which increases with stress.
Evaluated the immune system and length of telomeres.
Older species are doing at least as well as younger ones and perhaps even better.
Telomere length was steady, and older fish had an improved immune response and a lower NLR.
Researchers argue that this pattern fits well with the life history of the bigmouth buffalo.
Understanding the mechanisms behind variability of senescence and manipulating those is the key to long life.
Study by University of Auckland published in Nature Journal.
