Adiponectin makes cells more responsive to insulin.
The researchers said they did not yet know what stimulus makes cells increase their production of the Ink4 protein as a person grows older.
BioBricks in the registry range from those that kill cells to one that makes cells smell like bananas.
"Knowledge of what makes cells die and of what can block the cell-death process in the nematode may help lead to the identification of agents that can regulate the cell deaths involved in a variety of human disorders, such as cancer and neurodegenerative diseases," Dr. Horvitz said.
Rosiglitazone, which makes cells more sensitive to insulin, has been used for more than five years to treat people who have Type 2 diabetes, but this is the first time it has been studied on a large scale to prevent the disease.
The CDR makes cells put their ordinary activities on hold and instead switch on their defence systems, in reaction to high levels in the bloodstream of chemicals called purines.
Overexpression of these proteins makes cells sensitive to apoptotic-inducing stimulus.
Oxidative stress accumulates during aging which makes cells more prone to DNA damage.
Depletion of intracellular GSH by buthionine sulfoximine makes cells more susceptible to Cd2+-induced apoptosis.
Researchers have isolated a protein that makes cells stretch and contract when zapped with electricity.
RB1 plays a central role in cell cycle regulation and its loss makes cells sensitive to neoplastic transformation.
