Cynthia Kenyon

Cynthia Kenyon
Born	(1954-02-21) February 21, 1954 (age 70)
Alma mater	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Known for	Aging in C. elegans
Awards	National Academy of Sciences Dan David Prize
Scientific career
Fields	Biologist
Institutions	University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)
Doctoral advisor	Graham Walker
Notable students	Andrew Dillin

Cynthia Jane Kenyon (born February 21, 1954) is an American molecular biologist and geneticist. She does research on the genetics of aging in the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, which is a roundworm.

Career

Kenyon did postdoctoral studies with Nobel laureate Sydney Brenner at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England, studying the development of C. elegans.

Since 1986 she has been at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), as the Herbert Boyer Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics, and now as an American Cancer Society professor. She is also Vice President of Aging Research at Calico, a new company focused on health, well-being, and longevity.

Research

Her early work led to the discovery that hox genes, known to pattern the body segments of the fruit fly Drosophila, also pattern the body of C. elegans. These findings showed that hox genes were part of an ancient and fundamental metazoan patterning system.

Michael Klass discovered that lifespan of C. elegans could be altered by mutations, but he believed the effect was due to reduced food consumption (calorie restriction).^[1] Later, Thomas Johnson showed that the 65% life extension effect was due to the mutation itself, not calorie restriction.^[2]

In 1993, Kenyon discovered that a single gene mutation (daf-2) could double the lifespan of C. elegans and that this could be reversed by a second mutation in daf-16m.^[3] This set off an intensive study of the molecular biology of aging. Kenyon's findings led to the discovery that an evolutionarily-conserved hormone signaling system influences aging in other organisms, perhaps also mammals.^[3]

The company she founded, Elixir Pharmaceuticals, is trying to make a pill that would slow down the process that makes people age. It would mimic gene manipulation.

Honors

Kenyon has received many honors, including the King Faisal Prize for Medicine, the American Association of Medical Colleges Award for Distinguished Research, the Ilse & Helmut Wachter Award for Exceptional Scientific Achievement, and La Fondation IPSEN Prize, for her findings. She is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is now the director of the Hillblom Center for the Biology of Aging at UCSF. She is also one of featured biologists in the 1995 science documentary Death by Design / The Life and Times of Life and Times.

Personal diet

Kenyon's research prompted her to make personal dietary changes. She stopped eating high glycemic index carbohydrates when she discovered that putting sugar on the worms' food shortened their lifespans.^[4]

Kenyon follows a low glycemic index diet similar to the Atkins diet^[4] and the South Beach Diet.^[5]

No desserts. No sweets. No potatoes. No rice. No bread. No pasta. When I say ‘no,’ I mean ‘no, or not much,’ she notes. Instead, eat green vegetables. Eat the fruits that aren't the sweet fruits, like melon. Bananas? Bananas are a little sweet. Meat? Meat, yes, of course. Avocados. All vegetables. Nuts. Fish. Chicken. That's what I eat. Cheese. Eggs. And one glass of red wine a day.^[6]

But the diet is unproven, she cautions, and she's not recommending it for all. Nevertheless, she's pleased with its performance for her. 'I have a fabulous blood profile. My triglyceride level is only 30, and anything below 200 is good.'^[6]

You have to eat something, and you just have to make your best judgment. And that's my best judgment. Plus, I feel better. Plus, I'm thin—I weigh what I weighed when I was in college. I feel great —you feel like you're a kid again. It's amazing.^[6]

In the past, Kenyon had also briefly experimented with a calorie restriction diet for two days, but couldn't stand the constant hunger.^[4]

Related pages

• Senescence

References

1. Klass M.R. 1983 (1983). "A method for the isolation of longevity mutants in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and initial results". Mechanisms of Ageing and Development. 22 (3–4): 279–286. doi:10.1016/0047-6374(83)90082-9. PMID 6632998. S2CID 6870538.
2. Friedman, D. B.; Johnson, T. E. (1988). "A mutation in the age-1 gene in Caenorhabditis elegans lengthens life and reduces hermaphrodite fertility" (PDF). Genetics. 118 (1): 75–86. doi:10.1093/genetics/118.1.75. PMC 1203268. PMID 8608934.
3. Kenyon, Cynthia; Chang, Jean; Gensch, Erin; Rudner, Adam; Tabtiang, Ramon (1993). "A C. elegans mutant that lives twice as long as wild type". Nature. 366 (6454): 461–464. doi:10.1038/366461a0. PMID 8247153. S2CID 4332206.
4. Kingsland J. 2003. "I want to live forever", New Scientist, Issue 2417, October 18.
5. Platoni, K: "Live, fast, die old" Archived 2007-03-11 at the Wayback Machine, East Bay Express, January 18, 2006.
6. O'Neill B (2004). "In Methuselah's mould". PLOS Biology. 2 (1): e12. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0020012. PMC 322746. PMID 14758367.

Other websites

• NIH Profile: Cynthia Kenyon, Ph.D. Archived 2007-10-19 at the Wayback Machine
• Basic Research: Cynthia Kenyon by Steven Kotler in Discover, vol. 25, no. 11, 2004
• Kenyon Lab at UCSF
• Cynthia Kenyon's seminar: Genes that Control Aging Archived 2013-10-29 at the Wayback Machine
• Cynthia Kenyon: "A GENETIC CONTROL CIRCUIT FOR AGING" Archived 2015-09-12 at the Wayback Machine
• Cynthia Kenyon Seminar: "Longevity Mutants" Archived 2015-06-18 at the Wayback Machine
• Elixir Pharmaceuticals
• Kenyon Lab website
• In Methuselah's Mould, an open-access interview discussing Kenyon's research and her personal low carb diet.