WOrM Podcast: Whole Organism Analytics Podcast19 Nov 2025

EPISODE 33: The Longevity Latte – Low Caffeine, Long Life

Can a tiny dose of caffeine help a worm live longer? In this episode, we explore how C. elegans responds to the world’s favourite stimulant. Researchers show that low-dose caffeine extends lifespan, while higher doses flip into toxicity — revealing a fine balance between metabolic stress, development, and purinergic signalling.

We cover:

How small amounts of caffeine boost survival in C. elegans
Why high doses shorten lifespan and slow development
Effects on growth, body size, and reproduction
How adenosine signalling partially controls caffeine’s impact
Why the DAF-2 insulin/IGF-1 pathway is required for the longevity effect
What this teaches us about conserved stimulant–ageing biology

It’s the worm equivalent of a perfectly measured flat white — just enough buzz to help you thrive.

Based on the research article:

“Lifespan Extension Induced by Caffeine in Caenorhabditis elegans is Partially Dependent on Adenosine Signaling”

José C. Bridi, Arthur G.A. Barros, Laura R. Sampaio, João C.D. Ferreira, Fabiano A. Antunes Soares & Marcos A. Romano-Silva.

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience (2015)

🔗 https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2015.00220

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This podcast is generated with artificial intelligence and curated by Veeren. If you’d like your publication featured on the show, please get in touch.

📩 More info:

🔗 ⁠⁠www.veerenchauhan.com⁠⁠

📧 veeren.chauhan@nottingham.ac.uk

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Episoder(53)

EPISODE 53: Worms on Pause

Welcome to the next episode of the WOrM Podcast 🪱⏸️Today, we are talking about worms that appear to stop living—without dying.Researchers have identified a new, reversible state of suspended animatio...

5 Aug 26min

EPISODE 52: Worms in Space: Microbiomes in a Capsule

Welcome to the next episode of the WOrM Podcast 🪱🚀Today, we are looking at NemaCapsules: a new microfluidic system designed to study how host genetics and the gut microbiome influence C. elegans hea...

29 Jul 21min

EPISODE 51: The Worm Behind the Wild

Welcome to the next episode of the WOrM Podcast 🪱Today we’re looking at a review with a bold idea.Can a tiny nematode help us protect fish, amphibians, reptiles and insects from an increasingly chall...

22 Jul 16min

EPISODE 50: Fed by Mum, Built by Ribosomes

Welcome to the next episode of the WOrM Podcast 🪱Today we’re talking about inheritance.Not DNA.Not small RNAs.Not epigenetics.But ribosomes.⸻🧬 The central ideaWhen mother worms experience dietary re...

15 Jul 20min

EPISODE 49: Glowing up the Worm Proteome

Welcome to the next episode of the WOrM Podcast 🪱Today we’re looking at a paper that doesn’t answer a biological question.Instead, it builds the tools to answer thousands of biological questions in t...

8 Jul 21min

EPISODE 48: Murder Mode: How a Worm Evolved the Urge to Kill

Welcome to the next episode of the WOrM Podcast 🪱Today we're talking about a worm with teeth.And a nervous system that has been rewired — by evolution — to become aggressive.⸻🧬 The central ideaPrist...

6 Mai 14min

EPISODE 47: When Bacteria Fight Back: Bioplastic Kills the Worm

Welcome to the next episode of the WOrM Podcast 🪱Today we’re talking about something unexpected.A bioplastic — something we usually think of as sustainable, useful, even beneficial —can kill a worm.⸻...

29 Apr 21min

EPISODE 46: Turning in Time: Neural Sequences in the Worm Brain

Welcome to the next episode of the WOrM Podcast 🪱Today we’re looking at something deceptively simple: a turn.But not just that a worm turns —how the brain decides to do it.⸻🧬 The central ideaTurning...

22 Apr 19min