What happened
Lee and colleagues at KAIST report a metabolic switch that activates a longevity program in response to moderately low temperature. The work, published in Nature, centers on a BH2 metabolic network that promotes longevity and proteostasis. The story notes that moderately low temperature has previously been linked to longer lifespan in organisms from nematode worms to mice.
“Temperature is a crucial factor that affects ageing and lifespan.” — Nature News & Views commentary (Hanseul Lee and Seung-Jae V. Lee authors of the paper)
Plain-English summary written by an AI model from the Nature story; the quote is copied word for word from it.
The original
- Headline
- Worms live longer in cool conditions thanks to a muscle-derived molecule
- From
- Nature (news report)
- Published
- Oct 21, 2026
Nature, Published online: 21 October 2026; doi:10.1038/d41586-026-03066-3 In nematodes, a metabolite induced by the cold links low temperatures to a body-wide signal that promotes longevity. This signalling system is also seen in human cells.