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Estimates predict that somewhere between 15 percent and 30 percent of the variability in human lifespan is due to genetics. But in a study published in Genetics today (November 6), researchers have shown that those are likely overestimates and that assortative mating—that is, people choosing partners with traits that resemble their own—can account for most of what looks like heritability.
“What [the authors] did that no one else has done is try to really evaluate this idea of assortative mating” and its contribution to lifespan, says Braxton Mitchell, an epidemiologist at the University of Maryland who did not participate in the study. “The novel part of this was how they were able to put together this massive dataset of 400 million records . . . and are coming up with some very interesting analyses and hypotheses. It really reminds us how much we can do with ...
