The "Fly Die" Diet

Abstract

Like the fine print in a late-night infomercial for a miracle supplement, new work suggests that with a life-extending diet, "results may vary." Rations that lengthen worm life span hasten fruit fly demise, new research shows. The victuals lack a component of mitochondria, the cell's power plants. The diet quickened the pace of mitochondrial decay, a problem that exists in human disease, suggesting that fruit flies might mimic age-related decline of human mitochondrial function better than worms do.