[ExI] Living longer - Genes?

BillK pharos at gmail.com
Sat Dec 19 09:20:10 UTC 2015


In the search for extending lifespan geneticists have been searching
for genes that protect against the effects of ageing, but with little
success so far.
Another suggestion is that perhaps centenarians don't have anti-ageing
genes, but do have disease-protecting genes. i.e. they live longer
because they get fewer diseases.
New research is pointing in this direction.

<http://time.com/4153835/live-longer-genetic-clues/>
Quotes:
How to Live to 100: Researchers Find New Genetic Clues
Alice Park    Dec. 17, 2015

In a new analysis, researchers explore whether people live longer
because they avoid disease or because they possess some anti-aging
secret.
But in a paper published in PLOS Genetics, researchers led by Stuart
Kim, professor of developmental biology and genetics at Stanford
University, questions that dogma. He found that on the contrary,
centenarians may have fewer of the genes that contribute to major
chronic diseases. That doesn’t mean that people who live to their 100s
also don’t possess some protective anti-aging genes as well, but Kim’s
study shows that they don’t experience as much disease as people who
are shorter-lived.

Kim’s team shows that the way centenarians reach their second century
may involve more than just being blessed with anti-aging genes. “We
found that, at least in part, they live longer because they don’t get
sick,” he says.
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BillK




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