Extreme longevity is associated with a select group of genetic markers, according to a new study of centenarians, people living at least 100 years. Using these markers, researchers can predict a person's ability to become a centenarian with 77 percent accuracy.
Researchers say they can predict your
likelihood of becoming a centenarian
with 77 percent accuracy

Image: Flickr,
user linkurl:Dark_Ghetto28;http://www.flickr.com/photos/dark_ghetto28/407953159/
"Exceptional longevity is not this vacuous entity that no one can figure out," said lead author linkurl:Thomas Perls,;http://www.bu.edu/alzresearch/team/faculty/perls.html the director of the linkurl:New England Centenarian Study;http://www.bumc.bu.edu/centenarian/ at Boston Medical Center. "I think we've made quite some inroads here in terms of demonstrating a pretty important genetic component to this wonderful trait." "This paper is an important breakthrough in the field," agreed linkurl:Jan Vijg,;http://www.einstein.yu.edu/home/faculty/profile.asp?id=11318 a gerontological geneticist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who did not participate in the study. Perls recruited Boston University biostatistician linkurl:Paola Sebastiani;http://people.bu.edu/sebas/research.htm to design the...
Science P. Sebastiani, et al. "Genetic signatures of exceptional longevity in humans," Science Express, July 2010




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