Understanding the biology of longevity and ageing using a nematode model
Ageing (senescence) is the main cause of disease in the world today, yet the nature of the biological mechanisms that cause ageing remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in science. An ideal model organism in which to study ageing is the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. This species has well-developed genetics, its ~100 million base pair genome is fully sequenced, and its life span is a mere 2-3 weeks. Importantly, numerous mutations have been identified in C. elegans which alter the rate of ageing, with some mutants living up to 10-times longer than wild-type worms. By understanding ageing in a simple animal like C. elegans we hope to begin to unravel the mystery of human ageing, and the wide range of diseases that it causes, from cardiovascular disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, to osteoarthritis and cancer.

A focus of current work in this laboratory is understanding the biological mechanisms that cause pathologies of ageing, and how such pathologies lead to mortality; and how reduced insulin/IGF-1 signalling and dietary restriction suppress ageing and increase lifespan. Other interests include the mechanisms of organismal death, sex differences in the biology of ageing, the role of the microbiome in ageing, evolutionary conservation of mechanisms of ageing, and bioethical implications of ageing research. Funded for our research has been received from the BBSRC, the European Union and the Wellcome Trust.

Research Team

Marybelle Cameron-Pack, Ph.D. student, email: marybelle.cameron-pack.23@ucl.ac.uk
Vic Chang, Ph.D. student, email: vic.chang.23@ucl.ac.uk
Hannah Chapman, Ph.D. student, email: hannah.chapman@ucl.ac.uk
David Gems (PI), Professor of Biogerontology, email: david.gems@ucl.ac.uk
Jiayi Qiao, Ph.D. student, email: jiayi.qiao.24@ucl.ac.uk
Lucia Sanchez Garcia de los Rios, MSci literature research project student, email: lucia.rios.24@ucl.ac.uk
Hongyuan Wang, Postdoc, email: h.wang@ucl.ac.uk
Zhou Yang, MRes laboratory research project student, email: tony.yang.22@ucl.ac.uk
Bruce Zhang, Postdoc, email: bruce.zhang.18@ucl.ac.uk
Yiran Zhang, MSci laboratory research project student, email: chloe.zhang.23@ucl.ac.uk
Haozhang Zhao, MSci literature research project student, email: david.zhao.24@ucl.ac.uk

Undergraduates shadowing: Haonan Liu

Recent articles. Preprints on condition dependence of effects of autophagy on ageing, on the meaning of the Strehler-Mildvan correlation, on the effects of auxin-induced degradation of daf-2 on compression of morbidity, plus a study questioning whether eat-2 mutant longevity is the result of dietary restriction. Recent articles in Nature Communications on the meaning of the Gompertz equation, in npj Aging on a hierarchy of causes of death in C. elegans, and in Aging (US) on the multifactorial model of late-life disease. For details see publications.

Hear Bruce Zhang talk about the helminth infection and inflammageing theory in a Naked Scientists podcast, and David Gems discussing ageing in a Financial Times podcast, and with Yuan Zhao in an Aging (US) podcast

Upcoming book. ‘On Aging: Solving the Mysteries of Late-Life Maladies.’ David Gems, Columbia University Press.