Cynthia Jane Kenyon (born c. 1955) is an American molecular biologist and biogerontologist known for her genetic dissection of aging in a widely used model organism, the tiny worm Caenorhabditis elegans. Read full biography of Cynthia Kenyon →
Carbohydrates, and especially refined ones like sugar, make you produce lots of extra insulin. I've been keeping my intake really low ever since... →
I have always gotten a thrill, a kick, from learning new things.
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... →
The hope is that if we can increase youthfulness, we can postpone age-related diseases.
Age is the biggest risk factor for many diseases. You're 100 times more likely to get a tumor at age 65 than age 35. It makes a huge difference.... →
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... →
Generally, older people in their fifties, sixties, and seventies are running most countries and are CEOs of corporations. Which isn't to say... →
Sugar is the new tobacco.
I eat some fruit every day, but not too much and almost no processed food. I stay away from sweets, except 80 per cent chocolate.
I loved the idea that biology was logical.
If I were a worm, I would rather be the long-lived mutant than the normal worm, that's for sure.
In principle, if you understood the mechanisms of keeping things repaired, you could keep things going indefinitely.
In the early '90s, we discovered mutations that could double the normal life span of worms.
Cynthia Jane Kenyon (born c. 1955) is an American molecular biologist and biogerontologist known for her genetic dissection of aging in a widely used model organism, the tiny worm Caenorhabditis elegans.