In yeast and worms, mutations that extend longevity appear to simulate starvation conditions. The daf-2 pathway in worms plays a major role in life-span extension and in entry into the starvation-resistant and low-metabolism dauer phase. In a recent study published in Science Express on 13 June 2002, researchers screened for Caenorhabditis elegans mutants that survive in a low-oxygen environment and identified a number of daf-2 mutants that are resistant to hypoxia. The implications of these results are discussed in this Perspective.