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Curr Opin Biotechnol,
2007]
Using DNA microarrays to generate transcriptional profiles of the aging process is a powerful tool for identifying biomarkers of aging. In Caenorhabditis elegans, a number of whole-genome profiling studies identified genes that change expression levels with age. High-throughput RNAi screens in worms determined a number of genes that modulate lifespan when silenced. Transcriptional profiling of the fly head identified a molecular pathway, the ''response to light'' gene set, that increases expression with age and could be directly related to the tendency for a reduction in light levels to extend fly''s lifespan. In mouse, comparing the gene expression profiles of several drugs to the gene expression profile of caloric restriction identified metformin as a drug whose action could potentially mimic caloric restriction in vivo. Finally, genes in the mitochondrial electron transport chain group decrease expression with age in the human, mouse, fly, and worm.