Animal study · Aging · 24 Sept 2026
In worms, a magnet-making bacterium extended average lifespan by about 43 percent
Source: Hefei Institutes of Physical Science / ScienceDaily
What the research found
Study (animal, C. elegans only). An Xu and colleagues report in Free Radical Biol. Med. (doi 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2026.06.050; epub 26 June 2026; ScienceDaily 24 September 2026). Feeding the magnetotactic bacterium Magnetospirillum magneticum AMB-1 raised mean worm lifespan by 43.39 percent, from 17.17 plus or minus 1.25 days to 24.62 plus or minus 1.44 days, and the treated worms kept better neurological function and intestinal integrity at older ages. Wild-type AMB-1, which makes magnetosomes, outperformed a reversibly non-magnetotactic strain. A non-magnetotactic strain did not extend lifespan. Versus the usual E. coli OP50 feeding, AMB-1 lowered ferrous iron by 34.11 percent and lipid peroxides by 52.19 percent, consistent with less aging-related ferroptosis. The bacterium raised ftn-1 (ferritin) and lowered bli-3, the worm NADPH oxidase homolog tied to ferroptosis. RNA interference of ads-1 indicated that gene was required for the lifespan effect. This is a roundworm experiment. It is not a product for people, and it is not evidence that magnetic bacteria lengthen human life. Educational aging notes.
Evidence level: Animal study. Results in animals or cells often don't carry over to people.
Read the original at Hefei Institutes of Physical Science / ScienceDaily
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