Life Extension in the Short-Lived Fish Nothobranchius furzeri

Genetic and pharmacological research on aging is hampered by the life span of available vertebrate models. We recently initiated studies on Nothobranchius furzeri, a species with a maximum life expectancy in captivity of just 3 months, the shortest documented captive life span for a vertebrate. Further research on N. furzeri has demonstrated the following: In the last 3 years, N. furzeri has moved from a biological curiosity to a promising model system for drug validation. Furthermore, this species occupies a favorable position in the phylogeny of teleosts. It is close to the Japanese medaka, the puffer fishes, and the sticklebacks, and may represent a useful model for the comparative genomics of aging.