The Role of Non-Coding RNA in Organisms' Responses to Extreme Longevity

The obsession of biologists, geneticists, and gerontologists with the problem of longevity has raged on for decades. What is "traditional aging research" focused on? Age-related studies have included much damage from cell to cell and organ to organ, oxidative damage, and telomere shortening. They are supported today by growing evidence establishing baselines for evidence that non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs)—including microRNAs and long non-coding RNAs—regulate a process toward aging. In short, these are sequences that do not codify proteins but are pivotal for the regulation of gene expression, epigenetic control, and genome stability--three aspects essential to understanding the biology of aging and longevity variation among species.