With the number of centenarians growing steadily, researchers have been probing the genetic reasons that explain their longevity. And they believe that an increasingly sophisticated understanding of genetics will point the way to a new generation of drugs that can both extend life and dramatically improve the quality of the years that we have.
"None of us, probably, wants another five years in a nursing home," Linda Partridge, director of University College London's Institute of Healthy Ageing, tells Reuters. "But an additional five years without any particular health problems would be another matter."
Researchers involved in the hunt for longevity genes have been concentrating on APOE, which has variants that are linked to a wide variety of ailments, the news service notes in an in-depth article. Now the FOXO3A, variations of the CETP and humanin genes are getting extra attention. And others are likely to follow.
"We are assuming that the 100-year-olds are enriched with longevity genes," says Nir Barzilai of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University in New York. "And when you find genes, you discover the pathway, and then you can try to modulate the pathway with drugs."
- here's the article from Reuters
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