Until now, people have believed that aging is something that cannot be avoided by anyone. This perception is beginning to change. There is a Copernican shift from recognizing that aging is a natural process that cannot be cured to one that is curable. Longevity genes have been found to be present in many organisms, including chewing mammals. Longevity genes play an important role in controlling aging and lifespan. The focus on longevity is the “sirtuin gene,” which was published in Nature magazine in 2000. Since then, many animal experiments have reported that activating sirtuin genes can suppress aging. Efforts to enhance the effects of sirtuin genes are also underway in human clinical practice. Research into “eternal youth and longevity,” which has been a desire of humans from all over the world, has progressed rapidly over the past 10 years.
When people are infected with pathogens such as viruses, they develop a fever and have diarrhea. Diarrhea is an action that removes pathogenic bacteria that have accumulated in the intestines from the body. Symptoms such as fever and diarrhea that humans experience are an adaptive system based on genetic blueprints. This system is said to decline as we get older. However, it has been discovered that there are some species in the animal kingdom that become more energetic as they get older. The clue to this longevity was found in the bigmouth buffalofish of America’s Apache Lakes. This fish was confirmed to be over 100 years old. What exactly is the fountain of youth for buffalo fish? If this is clarified, it may be gospel for humanity.
Little by little, we are beginning to understand mysterious hints that will lead us to this gospel. In one study, older bigmouth buffalo had stronger immune systems than younger individuals. These older fish were found to have better stress responses and immune function than younger fish. Why do older buffalo fish have fewer threads than younger individuals? Older bigmouth buffalofish individuals have a lower ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes in their blood. The low proportion of lymphocytes suggests low stress levels. Older bigmouth buffalofish were better at fighting off bacteria than younger individuals. If this kind of knowledge is accumulated, it may be possible to discover a mechanism by which elderly humans can have an immune system comparable to that of young people.
