Washington: A team lead by an Indian-American scientist has found what could be the single-most important medical breakthrough in history - significantly longer life-spans.

The discovery shows that proper protein folding over time in long-lived bats explains why they live significantly longer than other mammals of comparable size, such as mice.

"Ultimately we are trying to discover what underlying mechanisms allow some animal species to live a very long time with the hope that we might be able to develop therapies that allow people to age more slowly," said Asish Chaudhuri, professor of biochemistry, VA Medical Centre, Texas and senior study co-author.

Chaudhuri and colleagues made their discovery by extracting proteins from the livers of two long-lived bat species (Tadarida brasiliensis and Myotis velifer) and young adult mice and exposed them to chemicals known to cause protein mis-folding.

After examining the proteins, the scientists found that the bat proteins exhibited less damage than those of the mice, indicating that bats have a mechanism for maintaining proper structure under extreme stress, said a VA Medical Centre release.

"Maybe Juan Ponce De Leon wasn't too far off the mark when he searched Florida for the Fountain of Youth," said medical expert and editor-in-chief of The FASEB (Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology) Journal Gerald Weissmann, which will publish the study as a cover report.

"As it turns out, one of these bat species lives out its long life in Florida. Since bats are rodents with wings, this chemical clue as to why bats beat out mice in the aging game should point scientists to the source of this elusive fountain," said Weissmann.

Chaudhury graduated in chemistry, did his Masters and doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Calcutta in 1984, 1986 and 1993, respectively.