Regulation of aging by germline stem cells

The author discusses a recent paper published in Science (see Arantes-Oliveira) that shows that germline stem cells in the worm Caenorhabditis elegans send a signal to a steroid hormone receptor and a forkhead-family member to stimulate reproduction and shorten longevity. The author compares the new results to previous findings in the fruit fly and discusses possible mechanisms behind the inverse relationship between reproduction and life-span extension.