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Updated: Jul 28, 2026

Measuring Caenorhabditis elegans Life Span in 96 Well Microtiter Plates
Published on: March 18, 2011
Extension of life-span with superoxide dismutase/catalase mimetics
S Melov1, J Ravenscroft, S Malik
1Buck Institute for Age Research, Novato, CA 94949, USA.
Abstract:
We tested the theory that reactive oxygen species cause aging. We augmented the natural antioxidant systems of Caenorhabditis elegans with small synthetic superoxide dismutase/catalase mimetics. Treatment of wild-type worms increased their mean life-span by a mean of 44 percent, and treatment of prematurely aging worms resulted in normalization of their life-span (a 67 percent increase). It appears that oxidative stress is a major determinant of life-span and that it can be counteracted by pharmacological intervention.
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