Parental age effect on the longevity and healthspan in Drosophilamelanogaster and Caenorhabditis elegans

Several studies have investigated the effect of parental age on biological parameters such as reproduction,lifespan, and health; however, the results have been inconclusive, largely due to inter-species variation and/ormodest effect sizes. Here, we examined the effect of parental age on the lifespan, reproductive capacity, andlocomotory activity of genetic isogenic lines of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and the fruit flyDrosophila melanogaster. We found that the progeny of successive generations of old parents had significantlyshorter lifespans than the progeny of young parents in both species. Moreover, we investigated the fertility,fecundity, and locomotory activity of C. elegans. Interestingly, both the shorter lifespan and deterioratedhealthspan of the progeny were significantly improved by switching to only one generation of younger parents.Collectively, these data demonstrate that the detrimental effect of older parental age on the longevity of theprogeny can be reversed, suggesting the existence of a beneficial non–genetic mechanism