A Database of Genes Related to Calorie Restriction

Fight Aging!

Do you want to live a longer life in good health? Simple practices can make some difference, such as exercise or calorie restriction. But over the long haul all that really matters is progress in medicine: building new classes of therapy to repair and reverse the known root causes of aging. The sooner these treatments arrive, the more lives will be saved. Find out how to help »

The senescence.info family of sites created by researcher João Pedro de Magalhães and colleagues has grown to include a number of interesting resources, such as the AnAge database of life span information for long-lived species, and a list of people and companies working on aging or longevity science. The latest addition is GenDR, a resource for genes associated with longevity induced through calorie restriction:

Dietary restriction (DR), limiting nutrient intake from diet without causing malnutrition, retards age-related degeneration and extends lifespan in multiple organisms. DR induces multiple changes, yet its underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. To facilitate research on the genetic and molecular mechanisms of DR-induced life-extension, we developed GenDR, a database of genes associated with DR. GenDR includes two datasets: 1) genes inferred from experiments in model organisms in which genetic manipulations cancel out or disrupt the life-extending effects of DR; 2) genes robustly altered due to DR, derived from a meta-analysis of microarray DR studies in mammals.
Understanding the genetic basis of DR is of great importance not only to the biology of ageing but to understand how diet can influence ageing, longevity, health and age-related diseases. Pharmaceutical interventions that target DR-associated genes are also an emerging area with huge potential. For more information on DR and its potential, please refer to a recent review.

While you are browsing sensence.info, you might consider following one of the header links through to the Digital Ageing Atlas, which is another interesting resource database:

The Digital Ageing Atlas is a portal of changes covering different biological levels. There are currently portals for both humans and mice. The idea is to integrate molecular, physiological and pathological age-related data and create an interactive portal that serves as the first centralised collection of ageing changes and pathologies.

There is much that could be done to expand upon these databases and the sites and tools that present the data, but I think we'll see that happen in the years ahead. The trend is definitely towards open access to scientific knowledge, and a part of that open access will be dedicated tools and presentation layers that make searching for information and learning an easier prospect.