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Editor's note: Photos of Steven Austad are available electronically as JPEGs by contacting [email protected]
AWARD WILL HELP AUSTAD CONTINUE TO STUDY THE BIOLOGY OF AGING
MOSCOW, Idaho -- University of Idaho zoologist Steven Austad first began to intensively study the biology of aging a dozen years ago. Humanity's natural preoccupation with aging has accelerated during that time, Austad says. "A week doesn't go by that I don't get a call from the national press about aging, or from someone claiming to have some magic cure."
His focus on aging also has brought him good news: an $835,860, four-year senior scholar award from the Ellison Medical Foundation, one of 10 such awards the non-profit corporation distributed this year.
The Ellison Foundation supports research in aging and age-related diseases. Its chairman, Lawrence Ellison, is the founder and CEO of Oracle, the world's leading data management software.
The award will support work with parakeets that has become the core of Austad's investigations on aging. Parakeets turn out to be exceedingly adept at keeping age at bay, living for 20 years or more.
He chose parakeets because they are successful in combating aging, unlike mice that age rapidly. "It makes more sense to me to look at a species that is successful and to find the reasons why," Austad said.
Work by Austad and his colleagues indicate parakeets survive longer by resisting oxidative damage to their DNA. The Ellison support will provide Austad with the resources to launch an effort to begin mapping particular genes in the parakeet's genome.
"What the award really means is we'll be able to go after this gene mapping project in a big way," Austad said. "It gives me the time and the resources to pursue the project."
The parakeet work will be the first to decode an animal's DNA specifically as a tool for aging research. The general longevity of birds fascinates Austad. Their rapid metabolism mean birds could be expected to age rapidly, but they don't, he said.
"Nature can't provide us with a blueprint for improving our methods for countering aging by studying short-lived animals," Austad said.
"This is like prospecting in the rain forest for plants that might have anti- cancer properties," he said.
Finding out how birds like parakeets succeed in reducing oxidative damage won't provide a cure for aging, Austad said. But it can help.
"Oxidative damage resistance is something almost everyone agrees is a major component of slowing the aging process," Austad said. "My personal opinion is it is not running the show but it's a big player."
In unraveling the sequence of parakeet DNA, Austad will search for the genes controlling production of anti-oxidants or particularly adept at repairing damage to DNA. As a control for the study, he will also study the Japanese quail, a bird noted for its short life span. Quail typically live two to three years, about the same as laboratory mice.
While less popular than mice as research subjects, quail have been used for neurological and reproductive studies, Austad said.
Austad also will attempt to fuse parakeet and quail cells to study the locations of genes affecting aging on specific chromosomes and factors that affect their activity.
Bird genomes are smaller overall than those of mammals, Austad said. Unlike humans, where as little as 5 percent of our genetic material is active, the bird genome is more compact, having the same number of genes as mammals with only about 35 percent as much DNA. Austad is now on sabbatical at the University of Washington, working with colleagues there on the study of aging in birds. He will return to UI in July.
It might be five years or 50 before scientists unravel the mystery of why we age, Austad said. In the mean time, he advises avoiding overdoing the anti-oxidant vitamins C, A and E. A healthy diet with the recommended five servings of fruits or vegetables a day provides an ample supply.
"There is no evidence that megadoses of vitamins are effective, and there is evidence to the contrary that they can be harmful," Austad added.
When a medical treatment for aging does emerge, Austad predicts it will be a treatment for later in life, once the childbearing years are past.
"I'd think it will either be a pharmaceutical or gene therapy that will be given at some point in your life to delay the aging process," Austad said. "But it is likely to have side effects, like affecting fertility."
"That's the ultimate goal: take a pill, get a shot or use a nasal spray that would slow down aging at some point," he said.
The overall growth of interest in the science of aging, Austad said, reflects both the maturing of the science probing the causes of aging, and the aging of policy makers. "In the last few years, I think influential people have reached the stage where it's a big issue for them," he added.
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