Lee Dye of ABC News reports that scientists are looking in to the reasons for a certain man and a particular woman lived for 114 years.
Both had about the same number of "bad genes" – called variants – as the rest of us. They both had several variants that are associated with deadly diseases, a characteristic that all humans possess. Thomas Perls of the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University has been studying this matter and working with the University of Florida at Gainesville as well as the Scripps Research Institute.
The three organizations published a research study this week in Frontiers in Genetics. The study found that the participants also had other gene variants which somehow inactivated the genes that would have otherwise killed the two people who lived to age 114.
In other words, they had good genes that fought off the bad genes, automatically achieving what some of the best minds in science have tried to do -- with very little success -- through genetic engineering.
The study participants all lived past age 110, an achievement that occurs only in one out of about five million persons in the world’s developed countries.
The published study notes, "The woman carried at least 30 mutations linked to Alzheimer's disease, 201 mutations associated with cancer," and "52 mutations associated with heart disease, 136 mutations associated with diabetes, 12 linked to macular degeneration that she was diagnosed with after the age of 100 years."
"The man carried 37 mutations associated with increased risk for colon cancer," the study states, adding that the disease was advanced and could easily killed him, but, surprisingly, he lived on. "His load of disease-predisposing variants was comparable to the female subject."
"What allows them to get to these extreme old ages is probably some protective genes that not only slow down aging, but also protect them from the bad variations," Perls said over the telephone. "It's almost like they are trumping the bad variants." He added, "That points to just how incredibly complex this puzzle is. "It involves probably hundreds of variations of hundreds of different genes, both good and bad."
Perls notes that the supercentenarians lead surprisingly similar lives. They have good health until surprisingly late in life. Many of them survive serious illnesses, including cancer in their 80s and 90s, "but they handle them so much better than the general population," Perls said. "They don't experience any disability, on average, until around the age of 93. So it's really only the last three or four years of their lives that they have any kind of age-linked disease."
Summarized from:
http://gma.yahoo.com/living-longer-reaching-114-not-just-good-genes-230144404.html
Both had about the same number of "bad genes" – called variants – as the rest of us. They both had several variants that are associated with deadly diseases, a characteristic that all humans possess. Thomas Perls of the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University has been studying this matter and working with the University of Florida at Gainesville as well as the Scripps Research Institute.
The three organizations published a research study this week in Frontiers in Genetics. The study found that the participants also had other gene variants which somehow inactivated the genes that would have otherwise killed the two people who lived to age 114.
In other words, they had good genes that fought off the bad genes, automatically achieving what some of the best minds in science have tried to do -- with very little success -- through genetic engineering.
The study participants all lived past age 110, an achievement that occurs only in one out of about five million persons in the world’s developed countries.
The published study notes, "The woman carried at least 30 mutations linked to Alzheimer's disease, 201 mutations associated with cancer," and "52 mutations associated with heart disease, 136 mutations associated with diabetes, 12 linked to macular degeneration that she was diagnosed with after the age of 100 years."
"The man carried 37 mutations associated with increased risk for colon cancer," the study states, adding that the disease was advanced and could easily killed him, but, surprisingly, he lived on. "His load of disease-predisposing variants was comparable to the female subject."
"What allows them to get to these extreme old ages is probably some protective genes that not only slow down aging, but also protect them from the bad variations," Perls said over the telephone. "It's almost like they are trumping the bad variants." He added, "That points to just how incredibly complex this puzzle is. "It involves probably hundreds of variations of hundreds of different genes, both good and bad."
Perls notes that the supercentenarians lead surprisingly similar lives. They have good health until surprisingly late in life. Many of them survive serious illnesses, including cancer in their 80s and 90s, "but they handle them so much better than the general population," Perls said. "They don't experience any disability, on average, until around the age of 93. So it's really only the last three or four years of their lives that they have any kind of age-linked disease."
Summarized from:
http://gma.yahoo.com/living-longer-reaching-114-not-just-good-genes-230144404.html
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