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Gift of life for 'low' worms

PUBLISHED: 10:45 27 January 2008 | UPDATED: 08:20 28 March 2014

JANUARY 27, 2008: Scientists carry out some bizarre experiments – and giving worms antidepressants might seem among the strangest.

The scientists in Seattle wanted to find out how to make roundworms live longer. They treated a batch with 80,000 randomly selected drug compounds.

 An antidepressant called mianserin succeeded in extending the worms’ lifespan by 30 per cent. Mianserin achieves this by tricking the worm into thinking it is starving, but without causing malnutrition

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