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Study shows genes are key in living to be 100
Scientists studying aging have long been fascinated by those rare individuals who somehow manage not only to live to be at least 100 years old, but also remain healthy and spry.
What's their secret? A new study scanned the genes of a large number of centenarians and identified genetic signatures that appear linked with a long, healthy life.
"It's an important steppingstone towards helping us understand the complex genetic and environmental factors that lead to a healthy, long life," said Winifred Rossi, deputy director of the National Institute on Aging's Division of Geriatrics and Clinical Gerontology, which funded the study.
Rossi and others cautioned that a healthful lifestyle and other environmental factors clearly play a significant role in determining a person's lifespan, and that much more research is needed to explore the findings.
The genes of participants were analyzed in the New England Centenarian Study, the largest study of centenarians and their families in the world. The study involves about 1,600 centenarians and has been ongoing since 1995.
Researchers compared the genes of 1,055 centenarians with 1,267 other people to see whether they could find unique patterns. They identified 150 genetic variations that appeared to be associated with longevity which could be used to predict with 77 percent accuracy whether someone would live to be at least 100.
The next step will be to try to reproduce the findings in other populations and identify the specific genes involved and what they do. Although the interaction of genetics, lifestyle and the environment is complex, the work could eventually lead to treatments that could help extend lives, the researchers said.
Source: Washington Post
What's their secret? A new study scanned the genes of a large number of centenarians and identified genetic signatures that appear linked with a long, healthy life.
"It's an important steppingstone towards helping us understand the complex genetic and environmental factors that lead to a healthy, long life," said Winifred Rossi, deputy director of the National Institute on Aging's Division of Geriatrics and Clinical Gerontology, which funded the study.
Rossi and others cautioned that a healthful lifestyle and other environmental factors clearly play a significant role in determining a person's lifespan, and that much more research is needed to explore the findings.
The genes of participants were analyzed in the New England Centenarian Study, the largest study of centenarians and their families in the world. The study involves about 1,600 centenarians and has been ongoing since 1995.
Researchers compared the genes of 1,055 centenarians with 1,267 other people to see whether they could find unique patterns. They identified 150 genetic variations that appeared to be associated with longevity which could be used to predict with 77 percent accuracy whether someone would live to be at least 100.
The next step will be to try to reproduce the findings in other populations and identify the specific genes involved and what they do. Although the interaction of genetics, lifestyle and the environment is complex, the work could eventually lead to treatments that could help extend lives, the researchers said.
Source: Washington Post
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