R Wilson Powers
Molecular biologist who, as a PhD student in Seattle, built high-throughput lifespan screens in yeast and showed that lowering TOR signalling extends chronological lifespan, and who later became a patent attorney
Associate, Litigation Group, Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox (patent law) · PhD in molecular biology, University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Stanley Fields lab, Department of Genome Sciences) · BA in biology, University of Virginia
Portrait: Sterne Kessler
Yeast cells age in two ways that can be measured in the lab. Replicative lifespan counts how many times a mother cell can divide; chronological lifespan measures how long cells that have stopped dividing stay alive, a rough model for non-dividing tissues in animals. In POW2006, R. Wilson Powers, working in Stanley Fields's lab at the University of Washington with Matt Kaeberlein and Brian Kennedy, built a high-throughput assay and measured chronological lifespan for about 4,800 yeast strains, each missing one gene. Several long-lived strains carried mutations in the TOR pathway, the nutrient-sensing system that mTOR belongs to in animals. Removing the amino acids asparagine or glutamate from the growth medium, or blocking TOR with rapamycin or methionine sulfoximine, also lengthened survival. The study, done only in yeast, supported the idea that lower TOR signalling is one way calorie restriction extends life.
Powers did a BA in biology at the University of Virginia and a PhD in molecular biology at the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, where he developed high-throughput assays for measuring the lifespan of yeast cells. He was also a co-author of the 2005 Science paper by Kaeberlein and colleagues showing that TOR and Sch9 regulate yeast replicative lifespan in response to nutrients.
He then moved into intellectual property law. A professional profile lists him as an associate in the Litigation Group of Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox, working on patent litigation, patent drafting and freedom-to-operate opinions in the life sciences.
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | M | Extension of chronological life span in yeast by decreased TOR pathway signaling POW2006 First author: ran the genome-wide yeast screen showing that reduced TOR signalling extends chronological lifespan. |
Co-authors in the Atlas 3
People with a profile here who share at least one study with R Wilson Powers.
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- Brian K. Kennedy Showed with Matt Kaeberlein that reducing TOR or Sch9 signalling extends yeast lifespan in the same way as dietary restriction, and has since championed mTOR as a target for slowing human ageing
- Matt Kaeberlein Extended TOR/aging research from yeast to mice to pet dogs
- Stanley Fields Technology-driven geneticist whose yeast screens helped show that lowering TOR signaling extends chronological lifespan in yeast
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