Aging gets with the program

Study in yeasts suggests long life is more than protection from random accumulation of cell damage

SAN FRANCISCO — A study of aging yeast organisms reveals that aging follows a program and is not just a random accumulation of damage that kills cells. The study, by Vladimir Titorenko of Concordia University in Montreal and colleagues, shows that yeasts have at least two vulnerable checkpoints that determine longevity: the accumulation of lipids and fatty acids and the health of cellular power plants called mitochondria.