Extending Lifespan with Genetic Modification

Date
2017-08
Authors
Holcom, Angelina
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Reed, Floyd
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Biology
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University of Hawaii at Manoa
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Abstract
Aging is a complex biological process that is characterized by different factors. One major factor are telomeres, which cause cell death and results in aging when they shorten. Telomeres are the end caps of the chromosome and are made of a repeated section of DNA. Their purpose is to maintain genomic and cellular stability, which involves protecting the genome from breaking down or mutating. The goal of this experiment is to learn how telomeres function in Drosophila melanogaster in order to better understand their aging process. In the experiment the expression of two genes that produce telomere complex proteins, spindle-E and cav, will be decreased to determine their effect on the life cycle and lifespan. I will measure the life cycle by recording the time it takes for an adult to eclose. The lifespan will be measured by counting how many fruit flies are alive and dead each day. I found that there is an increase in life cycle compared to control and there’s a mutation in eye phenotype of the UAS.Cav.RNAi. x ey-GAL4 population. There is a significant increase in lifespan of the crosses: UAS.Spn-E.RNAi. x Act5C-GAL4, UAS.Spn-E.RNAi. x ey-GAL4, UAS.Cav.RNAi. x Act5C-GAL4, and UAS.Cav.RNAi. x nos-GAL4. The reduction of spindle-E and cav in D.melanogaster appears to affect the ability to develop into adults. There are other telomere genes that can assist in telomere maintenance in the absence of another gene and that these genes have only an effect in specific tissues, which limits their effects in other regions of the organism.
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aging, telomeres
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42 pages
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