Research Article: Caloric restriction and methionine and their effects on longevity in Drosophila melanogaster

Caloric restriction(definition) (CR) has shown to increase lifespan in several model organisms including Drosophila melanogaster. Several pathways have been studied in order to better understand the biochemical mechanisms for this increase in longevity. Methionine has been shown to play a role in promoting antioxidant responsiveness to oxidative stress and other forms of cellular degeneracy. A reduction of dietary methionine has shown to increase longevity. The experiments run in this study were designed to bolster these findings. If an increase in dietary methionine limited lifespan, a corol could be drawn to methionine restriction studies. This experiment dealt with the effects of dietary methionine supplementation in conjunction with caloric restriction, and how these effects are linked to longevity in D. melanogaster. The results of these studies were consistent with previous caloric restriction studies. However, the effects of methionine on CR proved to be inconclusive.