Oliver's mTOR Atlas Evidence Platform
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Genetics: influence of TOR kinase on lifespan in C. elegans

Vellai T et al. · 2003 · Nature · Atlas ID VEL2003

What this study shows

Silencing the single worm TOR gene roughly doubled C. elegans lifespan, showing the longevity role of TOR inhibition is conserved across an enormous evolutionary distance.

Abstract

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(Brief communication; no formal abstract in PubMed — editorial summary.) This report provides the first genetic evidence that the TOR kinase controls animal lifespan: RNAi inactivation of the Caenorhabditis elegans TOR ortholog (let-363/CeTOR) roughly doubles adult lifespan. The longevity effect operates largely in parallel to the insulin/IGF-1–DAF-16 pathway and is associated with a dauer-like shift in energy metabolism, establishing nutrient-sensing TOR signalling as an evolutionarily conserved regulator of ageing and laying the groundwork for later work on rapamycin and lifespan extension.

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At a glance

Evidence type A Animal model Marked A because it is an animal intervention or observation study measuring an organismal outcome (model: Caenorhabditis elegans (RNAi)); the code names the system studied -- animal work can be rigorous and still not be human data.
Study type4 - Animal Study
Model systemCaenorhabditis elegans (RNAi)
JournalNature
Year2003
Peer reviewedYes
Record last updated2026-08-22
SourceDOI 10.1038/426620a · PMID 14668850

Extracted findings

InterventionGenetic (RNAi of let-363/CeTOR)
TargetTOR (CeTOR)
ModelC. elegans
EffectRNAi of C. elegans TOR roughly doubles adult lifespan, acting largely parallel to insulin/IGF-1-DAF-16

In the Atlas

Related topics

LongevitymTOR

More studies on this topic

Cite this paper

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Vellai, T., et al. (2003). Genetics: influence of TOR kinase on lifespan in C. elegans. Nature. https://doi.org/10.1038/426620a

@article{VEL2003,
  author       = {Vellai, T. and others},
  title        = {{Genetics: influence of TOR kinase on lifespan in C. elegans}},
  journal      = {Nature},
  year         = {2003},
  doi          = {10.1038/426620a},
  note         = {PMID: 14668850},
}

Cite this Atlas record

The record is the Atlas's own work — the evidence label, the extracted findings and the links. It is cited as part of the dataset, not as the paper.

Barton, O. (2026). Oliver's mTOR Atlas (record VEL2003) [Data set]. https://mtor-atlas.org/study/VEL2003/ · Dataset DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22059963

@misc{atlas_VEL2003,
  author       = {Barton, Oliver},
  title        = {{Oliver's mTOR Atlas}, record VEL2003},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  year         = {2026},
  url          = {https://mtor-atlas.org/study/VEL2003/},
  doi          = {10.5281/zenodo.22059963}
}