A close look at the DNA of centenarians 鈥� people aged over 100 years old 鈥� has identified rare genetic variants that might help explain their longevity.
鈥淩are variants in ageing pathways affect human lifespan and constitute a part of the genetic architecture of human longevity,鈥� says at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. 鈥淭here is an interplay between common and rare variants. Together they affect longevity, and I think that鈥檚 also true for any complex human trait.鈥�
Zhang and his team compared the genetic profiles of 515 centenarians and 496 non-centenarians 鈥� who were aged between 70 and 95.
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The researchers wondered whether the centenarians might owe their longevity in part to an absence of rare genetic variants known to increase the risk of disease. But they found that these 鈥減athogenic rare variants鈥� were as likely to be carried by centenarians as non-centenarians.
On the flip side, some rare versions of genes known to have a beneficial effect on health were more likely to be carried by centenarians than non-centenarians. For instance, the researchers found the centenarians carried rare beneficial variants in something called Wnt signalling 鈥� .
This knowledge could be used to develop anti-ageing drugs that can target ageing mechanisms in general rather than treating individual age-related conditions to extend human lifespans, says Zhang.
鈥淭his paper is intriguing due to the considerable [sample size] 鈥� These investigations are in essence challenging because large numbers are required to find statistically significant signals,鈥� says at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. 鈥淭hese exciting findings highlight the importance of human genetics in longevity research.鈥�
Nature Aging
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