The Scientist (blog), June 30, 2010.
Extreme longevity is associated with a select group of genetic markers, according to a new study of centenarians, people living at least 100 years. Using these markers, researchers can predict a person’s ability to become a centenarian with 77 percent accuracy.
“Exceptional longevity is not this vacuous entity that no one can figure out,” said lead author Thomas Perls, the director of the New England Centenarian Study at Boston Medical Center. “I think we’ve made quite some inroads here in terms of demonstrating a pretty important genetic component to this wonderful trait.”
“This paper is an important breakthrough in the field,” agreed Jan Vijg, a gerontological geneticist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who did not participate in the study. Read More >