Elite athleticism needn’t compromise longevity or fertility

Elite athleticism needn’t compromise longevity or fertility

For more than three decades, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have been testing a deceptively simple question: can an animal become extraordinarily athletic without paying a biological price? Their answer, based on a long-running selection experiment in mice, is challenging a familiar assumption in evolutionary biology. Mice bred to run up to three […]

UC Riverside Study Finds High-Intensity Running Does Not Reduce Lifespan in Mice

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside, have found that extreme physical performance does not necessarily reduce an organism's lifespan or reproductive success. A multi-decade study involving selectively bred mice indicates that high-level athleticism can coexist with biological longevity and fertility, challenging long-standing evolutionary theories that suggest a trade-off between physical exertion and life-sustaining functions.