removing part of the worms’ gonadal systems could extend their lives significantly. This parallels a finding that castrated men tend to live an average of fourteen years longer than uncastrated men who are similar on all other factors—and the younger they were when castrated, the longer the life span extension, in some cases up to twenty years. Italian castrati were also reputed to live longer. The connection between gonads and aging is not yet understood. It clearly involves something more than testosterone—probably something more fundamental—because the worms don’t have testosterone
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