Fruit flies offer DNA clue to why women live longer

  • 2 August 2012
  • From the section Health
Fruit flies
Image caption Fruit flies can give clues to what happens in other species

Scientists believe they have discovered a clue to why women tend to live longer than men - by studying fruit flies.

Writing in Current Biology, they focus on mutations in mitochondrial DNA - the power source of cells.




And females outlive males in many other species.

'No effect' on females

In the research, experts from Australia's Monash University and the UK's Lancaster University analysed the mitochondria of 13 different groups of male and female fruit flies.



"Intriguingly, these same mutations have no effects on patterns of ageing in females," he said.






Tom Kirkwood, professor of ageing at Newcastle University said the paper was "intriguing".

He said: "It may be it does tell us something rather important about mitochondria and the difference between male and female fruit flies.

"And we know that mitochondria are important for ageing in a number of species.

"But I certainly don't think this is a discovery that explains why women live five-to-six years longer than men.

"There are other things we know also count - lifestyle, social and behavioural factors. But the biggest difference in biology is that we have different hormones."

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