Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Genes predict Who lives forver


By: S A Sagar
Genetic variants play a critical and complex role in predicting exceptionally long lives, says a study. Well, surely none from this planet, but according to Friday's isssue of the journal science, scientists have discovered a certain pattern of genes that gives an accurate prediction on who might live a longer life.
Paola Sebastiani and Dr. Thomas Perls, who leads a research team at Boston University, have revealed that they have identified a set of genetic variants that's capable of predicting a 77-percent accuracy of extreme logevity.
The word "longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for "life expectancy" in demography  or to connote "long life", especially when it concerns someone or something lasting longer than expected (an ancient tree, for example).
Reflections on longevity have usually gone beyond acknowledging the brevity of human life and have included thinking about methods to extend life. Longevity has been a topic not only for the scientific community but also for writers of travel, science fiction, and utopian novels.
There are many difficulties in authenticating the longest human life span ever by modern verification standards, due to inaccurate or incomplete birth statistics. Fiction, legend, and folklore have proposed or claimed life spans in the past or future vastly longer than those verified by modern standards, and longevity narratives and unverified longevity claims frequently speak of their existence in the present.
A life annuity is a form of longevity insurance.
According to reports, in a recent study utilizing what is called a genome-wide association approach, the research team highlighted more than 1,000 people who lived to be 100 or more and matched them to 1,200 other people to be able to identify the genetic patterns that are common in 100-year-olds.
And for the first time, findings show that there are specific genetic variations that equip a person with an unusually long life.
In fact, Thomas Perls argues that exeptional longevity is not some process that cannot be figured out. He adds, "We've made quite some inroads here in terms of demonstrating a pretty important genetic component to this wonderful trait."
And while Dr. Perls believes that he has yet to come up with findings leading to youth elixirs (life-prolonging substance), he hopes they may be used to delay the start of Alzheimer's, and other age-related diseases.

2 comments:

Raj said...

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Raj said...

ye Article mujhe bahut achcha laga