Back in the 1930s, scientists noticed that water fleas and rats fed restricted diets while young went on to live longer. The same effect has since turned up in fruit flies and mice. What we did not know was how a meal eaten in infancy could affect health weeks, months, or even years later. A recent Nature study might have found the answer.
A team led by Fumiaki Obata, a biologist at the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research in Kobe, Japan, found a protein that carries a record into adulthood of what fruit flies ate as larvae, influencing how long they live.
Hungry maggots
Lab fruit flies are fed a mix of yeast and sugar, with yeast being their main source of protein. “We decreased only the yeast concentration in the diet, from eight percent to either one or two percent,” Obata explains. This low-protein diet was introduced roughly halfway through the larval period. Once the flies emerged from their pupae as adults, they returned to standard food.
AMD acquires World Labs AI startup, upping the ante against Nvidia
September 29, 2026
Trump ads paid for by US government allegedly violate anti-propaganda laws
September 29, 2026
NASA has a Dragon dilemma, and there appear to be no good answers
September 29, 2026
Here's what actually happened in OpenAI's Australian gov't server hack
September 29, 2026
Apple pressured to explain Trump role in ICE-tracking app removals
September 29, 2026
This study looks at how and with whom connected cars share your data
September 29, 2026
Former American Idol contestant and pastor found guilty of murdering wife
September 29, 2026
More than 400 detained as France student protests escalate
September 29, 2026
AMD acquires World Labs AI startup, upping the ante against Nvidia
September 29, 2026
5 New Sites Added To India's UNESCO Tentative List For World Heritage
September 29, 2026
Trump rules out joint US-China venture to develop AI
September 29, 2026
Trump ads paid for by US government allegedly violate anti-propaganda laws
September 29, 2026