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eLife  ·  20 August 2026  ·  From issue 25

Multiple molecular pathways to longevity with opposing gene expression programs defining distinct aging strategies in Caenorhabditis elegans

In worms, many different long-life tricks turn on the same set of genes.

Zenith D Rudich, Jiaxi Guan et al.

Long-lived worms of many different types switch on many of the same genes. Nine kinds of roundworms lived longer through seven different biological tricks, yet they often turned the same gene sets up or down. Some worms split into two camps that flipped the same genes in opposite directions, showing there is more than one way to live longer. Turning on some of these shared genes alone let ordinary worms live longer and handle stress better.

The number 196 genes up, 62 genes down

Genes that changed the same way in at least 6 of 9 long-lived worm strains.

Roundworms only, lab study, no human data yet.

Integrity screen: passed (3 checks) Checked 23 August 2026. Retraction record: none. DOI resolves at doi.org. Metadata record found (eLife). Read the source

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