Molecular aging midlife crisis

[corybroo]

Just saw the article New Study Identifies Molecular Aging "Midlife Crisis"
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-06-molecular-aging-midlife-crisis.html

Some interesting statements:

molecular programs known to promote longevity do not last beyond midlife.

study provides a possible new reason why human disease burden increases so sharply from the sixth decade of life onward as health-protective mechanisms disappear

 key biochemical events regulate the longevity of small short-lived animals ... humans appear to stop using these pathways from about 50 years of age onward

a dominant role for the so-called mTOR protein complex—a mechanism that regulates numerous protective cell programs—as well as mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production. These two cellular mechanisms combined to explain about two-thirds of the molecular aging profile in humans

While the key protein regulators of longevity and health-span in short-lived animals have been found for the first time to be central to human molecular aging, this new study also determined that many little-studied so-called non-protein-coding genes are involved in human aging. 

"We've demonstrated that the most valid of 'anti-aging' programs are naturally active in humans and for some reason stop when we reach our 50s," Dr. Wahlestedt said. "This not only provides a specific time window to now study human aging, it also indicates that these established anti-aging strategies may no longer be effective (if too active there can be side effects) and so new approaches will be needed in long-lived humans."

 

[Ron Put]

Quote from the linked article:

"Our study revealed that the complexity of regulation of aging programs may be much greater in humans as compared to other species," Dr. Wahlestedt said. "This is related to our more complex genome, which may have evolved to allow for longer and healthier lifespan."

The part in bold is grossly inaccurate and the part in red misrepresents the basic tenets of evolutionary theory.

The human genome is relatively complex, but not all that complex, compared to something like Paris Japonica, which has 150 Billion base pairs (we have about 3 Billion). Even the lowly dafnia pulex (a water fly) has about a quarter more genes than a human....

Makes me doubt the rest of what Dr. Wahlestedt says....