STARSET_MirrorMystery of lifespan gap between sexes may be solved, say researchers
From humans to black-tailed prairie dogs, female mammals often outlive males – but for birds, the reverse is true.
从人类到黑尾土拨鼠，雌性哺乳动物的寿命通常比雄性长，但对鸟类来说情况却恰恰正好相反。
Now researchers say they have cracked the mystery, revealing that having two copies of the same sex chromosome is associated with having a longer lifespan, suggesting the second copy offers a protective effect.
现今研究人员表示，他们已经解开了这个谜团，发现拥有两个相同性别染色体的副本与寿命更长有关，这表明了第二个副本提供了一种保护作用。
“These findings are a crucial step in uncovering the underlying mechanisms affecting longevity, which could point to pathways for extending life,” the authors write. “We can only hope that more answers are found in our lifetime.”
作者写道:“这些发现是揭示影响寿命的潜在机制的关键一步，它可能为延长寿命指明道路，但我们只能希望在有生之年找到更多的答案了。”
The idea that a second copy of the same sex chromosome is protective has been around for a while, supported by the observation that in mammals – where females have two of the same sex chromosomes – males tend to have shorter lifespans. In birds, males live longer on average and have two Z chromosomes, while females have one Z and one W chromosome.
同性染色体的第二次复制具有保护作用的观点已经存在一段时间了，这一观点得到了哺乳动物的观察结果的支持；在哺乳动物中：雌性动物有两条同性染色体，而雄性动物的寿命往往较短；在鸟类中：雄性平均寿命更长—有两条Z染色体，而雌性有一条Z染色体和一条W染色体。
Read more at The Guardian
翻译：SGCS翻译组
