Queen Mary Study Finds Caffeine Extends Yeast Lifespan via 1 Ancient AMPK Pathway
Updated
Updated · Organic Authority · Jun 15
Queen Mary Study Finds Caffeine Extends Yeast Lifespan via 1 Ancient AMPK Pathway
1 articles · Updated · Organic Authority · Jun 15
Summary
Researchers at Queen Mary University of London reported that caffeine lengthened the lifespan of fission yeast cells in their non-dividing resting phase, when maintenance and repair outweigh growth.
The study points to AMPK—an ancient energy-sensing protein pathway also linked to metformin—as the mechanism, with caffeine appearing to push cells into a stress-resistant, repair-focused state.
The same experiments also suggested a trade-off: caffeine can speed cell-cycle progression, which may increase DNA damage when cells divide before completing repairs under stressful conditions.
Human relevance remains unproven because the work was done in yeast, though the findings offer a plausible cellular explanation for population studies linking moderate coffee intake—about 2 to 3 cups a day—to better metabolic and longevity outcomes.