The consequences of fat body transplantation into young and old Drosophila

Despite some age-related changes in cells, we observed no massive fat body involution during senescence of two species of Drosophila. Transplants of larval fat failed to prolong the life of old D. gibberosa. Transplanted larval fat persisted for weeks and underwent similar changes (except for glycogen stores) in old as in young hosts, suggesting that only minor changes in hemolymph composition occur with age.