McCay et al first provided evidence in 1935 to suggest that caloric restriction slows down the ageing process and that it could potentially increase life span. Research has since expanded and yielded exciting results in many organisms which back up this concept. Bodkin et al (1995) enforced long term caloric restriction on adult male rhesus monkeys. The research group noted that the mortality rate in the control groups was higher than in the dietary restricted group. It can be seen that caloric restriction leads to changes in physiological changes that have the eventual effect of increasing longevity. (Guarente, 2005)
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Examinations of model organisms such as mice and other lower organisms has yielded results which suggest that certain genes can contribute to alterations in the rate of ageing (Perls, 2002). The P53 gene is one of these genes. The p53 gene creates a tumour suppressor protein that has many functions. These include its ability to induce cell cycle arrest or activate apoptosis in cells that can’t repair DNA damage or when certain oncogenes are activated. It is commonly referred to as the “guardian of the genome”, due to its ability to prevent genetically unstable cells from entering a cancerous state (Donehower, 2005). In many cases of cancer a mutated p53 gene is present.
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