Biology of Humans 6th Edition by Judith Goodenough,Betty McGuire

Exercise 1

In the article "Enhanced Longevity by Ibuprofen, Conserved in Multiple Species, Occurs in Yeast through Inhibition of Tryptophan Import," Chong He and 14 colleagues describe their experiments on the effects of ibuprofen on the life spans of yeast, roundworms, and fruit flies. Ibuprofen, as you probably are aware, is an over-thecounter drug that relieves pain and reduces inflammation; it is available under several trade names, including Motrin and Advil. Yeast, roundworms, and fruit flies are eukaryotic model organisms with short life spans, which makes them ideal for longevity studies because researchers can quickly determine whether a drug affects life span. For each of the three model organisms, the researchers had an experimental group (exposed to ibuprofen) and a control group (not exposed to ibuprofen); they recorded how long organisms in control and experimental groups lived. The researchers found that ibuprofen increased life span in yeast, roundworms, and fruit flies. The lives of the roundworms and fruit flies were extended by the equivalent of about 12 human years. In a second part of the study, the researchers identified the mechanism by which ibuprofen prolonged the life span of yeast. The article was published December 18, 2014, in the peer-reviewed, open access journal PLOS Genetics.The full article can be found at: http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article id=10.1371/ journal.pgen.1004860
When evaluating the original research paper, what additional information would you want to know about the researchers Would you be interested in funding agencies, and, if so, why