Cynthia Kenyon
Cynthia Kenyon
Cynthia Jane Kenyonis an American molecular biologist and biogerontologist known for her genetic dissection of aging in a widely used model organism, the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionScientist
CountryUnited States of America
age family mistaken people younger
One thing that's likely: How you look as you age is hereditary. Some of my family members, for example, look younger than their real age. And people have mistaken me for 30, even 25.
nice people too-short
Life's too short to not be around nice people.
running country people
Generally, older people in their fifties, sixties, and seventies are running most countries and are CEOs of corporations. Which isn't to say there aren't entrepreneurs, but if the young were better in every respect, there'd be no reason for the old. Our life span reflects our particular life strategy.
beautiful people tree
A big tree seemed even more beautiful to me when I imagined thousands of tiny photosynthesis machines inside every leaf. So I went to MIT and worked on bacteria because that's where people knew the most about these switches, how to control the genetics.
eventually people small trying youthful
We are trying to find drugs, small molecules, that people could take to make them disease-resistant, more youthful and healthy. Eventually we will find them.
kids looked quite realize seeking time took truth
I was one of those kids who was always seeking the truth, and I first looked for truth by reading novels. It took quite a long time for me to realize there are better ways.
science steer wrong
With science it's very important not to go down the wrong path, but the wrong path in science is a path you go down where everything you learn is already known. So you need to steer around the obvious.
becomes cells dividing unlikely worm
It is unlikely that changes in telomeres are influencing the lifespan of the worm. That is because telomeres only shorten when cells divide. Most of the cells of the worm stop dividing when the worm becomes an adult.
ideas unexpected ageing
The idea that ageing was subject to control was completely unexpected.
normal mutation worms
In the early '90s, we discovered mutations that could double the normal life span of worms.
use way aging
If the aging process is controlled in a similar way in worms and humans, then we can use what we learn about worms to speed our study of higher organisms.
age disease increase
The hope is that if we can increase youthfulness, we can postpone age-related diseases.
made escalators
It was like stepping on to an escalator; I could do anything. I was just made for science.
long normal mutants
If I were a worm, I would rather be the long-lived mutant than the normal worm, that's for sure.