Studies show that, for the worm at least, a sexless life can be a longer life.
It remains to be seen whether the same is true in humans. In a report to be published in the British journal Nature Thursday, Honor Hsin and Cynthia Kenyon of the University of California, San Francisco, say signals from the reproductive system have a direct influence on the lifespan of the laboratory roundworm, Caenorhabditis elegans. The researchers used lasers to destroy differing amounts of the worms' gonads. An insulin pathway integrates these signals. Thus, we propose that the germ line accelerates aging by influencing the activity of the insulin-like growth factor pathway.