A research team at Nanjing University has found a new gene named daf-31 in caenorhabditis elegans (C elegans) that can enhance longevity of the species, local Modern Express reported.

Gene daf-31 encodes a protein that regulates C elegans larval development, metabolism and adult lifespan. Increase of the gene can prolong elegans lifespan, while its mutation or disappearance would lead the worm to accumulate fat and die, according to deputy professor Chen Di, who led the study.

Research also found daf-31 encodes an ortholog of the arrest-defective-1 protein (ARD1). It shares a 75 percent identity with human ARD1 and a 77 percent identity with mouse ARD1.

This indicates the possibility that ARD1 is multiplied in body to expand human lifespan.