New research suggests that the promising longevity gene may not lead to longer lives after all.In recent years, studies have led some scientists to believe that the genes that make sirtuins, proteins that affect cell metabolism, could yield new targets for drugs that would extend life.discount nike air max shoesEarly work in worms and fruit flies suggested that boosting sirtuins could extend life by up to 50%. Other experiments in lab animals also suggested that the proteins were responsible for the life-extending effects of calorie restriction. And even more encouraging for people, it turned out that resveratrol, a compound found in red wine, could activate the proteins.The results were robust enough to convince some of the proteins' earliest advocates, researchers from Harvard and Massachusetts of Institute of Technology, to found a company, Sirtis, to begin testing sirtuin-boosting agents.MORE: A Drug to Live Longer? Yes! (But Only If You're a Fat Mouse)But in a new report in Nature...