Turns out something weird about yeast is also true for humans. There's quite a mechanism at work inside both of us–genes called "sirtuins" handle turning other genes off and on, so that, for instance, the heart genes in a stomach cell stay turned off (the genes are always present in every type of cell, but are turned off or on to fit the brand of cell involved). Thes sirtuins also get called on to repair DNA damage. With age comes more DNA damage, and the sirtuins getoverwhelmed with running around all over the place trying to fix DNA and keep "off" genes from coming out of their shells, which causes damage, and, apparently, aging. So increase the sirtuin, and you have a big-enough fire department to keep everything under control and make sure you still look marvelous and stay in good health even though you're getting older. Pretty cool.
And in other genetic news, it turns out some of the necessary stuff for creating life as we know it seems to exist out in space in super-hot, crazy conditions, even when stars are forming. Which translates to: the potential for life may be all over the place. Even cooler!
