«We observed that the level of the Gcn4 protein was positively correlated with
the longevity of yeast cells,» says Mihaela Zavolan, Professor of Computational and Systems Biology.
Kennedy is interested in understanding why reduced gene expression in ribosomes enhances
longevity in
yeast and worms — ribosomes are tiny organelles that occur within the
cell and are involved in the production
of proteins.