New explanation for the longevity of social insect reproductives: Transposable element activity.

The increasing frailty that accompanies old age deeply influences our lives and permeates our thoughts. As a result, studies tackling this topic naturally fascinate both specialists and the general public. However, despite a wealth of research, the fundamental mechanisms of aging remain undetermined. Damage to molecules, such as DNA and proteins that are essential for life and proper organismal function, is a prime candidate for explaining the degeneration that accompanies aging (1). Much of the research into age-related DNA damage has focused on the damage caused by oxidative stress (2), but this is by no means the only potential source of disruption that can occur to DNA. A ground-breaking study in PNAS by Elsner et al. (3) leverages the remarkable natural differences in longevity found among termite castes to identify transposable element (TE) activity as a potential source of DNA damage that is elevated in older workers compared with the reproductive kings and queens.