Aging Fruit Fly Fat Bodies (IMAGE) Carnegie Institution for Science Caption This image shows a comparison of lamin-B in the fat bodies of 10-day-old and 50-day-old fruit flies. As animals age, their immune systems gradually deteriorate, a process called immunosenescence. It is associated with systemic inflammation and chronic inflammatory disorders, as well as with many cancers. The causes underlying this age-associated inflammation, and how it leads to diseases, are poorly understood. New work in Carnegie's Yixian Zheng's lab sheds light on one protein's involvement in suppressing immune responses in aging fruit flies. It is published in Cell. Credit Yixian Zheng Usage Restrictions With credit License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.