ANN ARBOR, Mich., April 12 (UPI) -- A mouse in a U.S. lab turned 4 Saturday, only the second to reach twice its life expectancy without the use of an extremely low-calorie diet.
The dwarf mouse, named Yoda, is part of the genetically long-lived, small tribe of mice being raised at the University of Michigan Medical School that could offer new clues about how genes and hormones affect the rate of aging and risks of disease late in life.
The previous record-holder at the university died nine days short of his fourth birthday.
Dr. Richard Miller, a professor of pathology, developed strains of wild Idaho mice that live longer, stay smaller and age more slowly than ordinary mice. Other scientists have used extremely low-calorie diets to produce very long-lived mice, but the genetic approaches used in Miller's laboratory achieve longevity without the need to restrict food intake.
Miller is using mice like Yoda -- who is now about 136 in human years -- to identify defects in T-cells that might interfere with normal immune response.
