SIRT1, a protein that slows aging in mice and other animals, also protects against the ravages of a high-fat diet, including diabetes, according to a new MIT study.
MIT biology professor Leonard Guarente ’74 discovered SIRT1’s longevity-boosting properties more than a decade ago and has since explored its role in many different body tissues. In his latest study, he looked at what happens when the SIRT1 protein is missing from adipose cells, which make up body fat.