Wasp that pause youth may occupy slower aging

Scientists studying jewelry wasps have found that natural pauses in early development can greatly slow down biological aging processes in later life.

Tiny metal insects, called Nostril VITRIPENNISenter a dormant state called larvae when exposed to cold and darkness. This “pause button” not only extends its adult lifespan by more than 35%, but also reduces its molecular epigenetic clock by nearly 30%.

Natural timeout with lasting benefits

The study, led by a team at the University of Leicester, shows that jewel wasps undergoing diapause are younger than their peers. Although some organisms, such as nematodes or saline shrimp, can stop aging in suspension, this study is the first to show long-term effects and has been continuously developed.

“It’s like a wasp take a break early in life,” said Professor Eamonn Mallon, a senior writer and evolutionary biologist at the University of Leicester.

Slower clock, longer life

Biological age is not measured by calendar years, but by changes in DNA methylation, i.e., chemical tags of genomes accumulated over time. These patterns constitute the so-called epigenetic clock, a powerful biomarker of aging.

The main findings of the study include:

• Extended adult life expectancy increased by 36%
• Epigenetic aging is reduced by 29% in post-river adults
• Wasp that stops pause during development is an average of 8 days
• Changes involve nutritional induction pathways such as insulin/IGF and MTOR

“These results suggest that aging is not set by stones – the environment can slow down even before adulthood begins,” Malon added.

Why Jewelry Wasp is the ideal choice for aging research

Unlike fruit flies and worms that lack functional DNA methylation in adulthood, Nasonia vitreous has a system that operates completely like humans. The short lifespan of wasps also makes it an effective laboratory model. The researchers developed a 27-gene epigenetic clock tailored for Nasonia, validated by rigorous statistical modeling.

Even on the 6th day after the onset, adults exposed to 2 depression were slightly “older”, which may be due to methylation changes during dormancy, but were slower thereafter. By day 30, their biological age was nearly 3 days smaller than the control group, an important edge of an insect that is usually only 3 to 4 weeks.

How early events in life shape aging

The slowdown is not random. Clock-related DNA regions are associated with conservative pathways that regulate growth and metabolism. One gene PRMT1 is known to be associated with insulin signaling and anti-stress resistance through the major regulator of aging in many organisms.

These findings support the idea of “predicting adaptive responses” where early life helps plan future survival strategies. Overwintering strategies that remain in insects may evolve, but their side effects are slower in the biology era.

What does this mean for human health

While this is a leap from wasps to humans, research shows that early life interventions may one day help regulate the pace of human aging. Techniques such as target epigenetic editing have been explored to test whether changing clocks can directly affect health range and lifespan.

“This study opens new avenues for research, not only the biology of wasps, but also about whether we can design interventions to slow the aging of their molecular roots,” Mallon said.

The Nasonian vitreous fusion combines simplicity and biological correlation, and it is becoming an efficient new model for decoding the molecular logic of aging – pausing the larvae at once.

Journal Reference

Foley Eeb, Thomas CL, Kyriacou CP, Mallon EB. Larval diapause slows adult epigenetic aging in insect models. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. July 28, 2025; 122 (31): E2513020122.
doi:10.1073/pnas.2513020122

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