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Doctors, scientists, insurers, biotech companies. and patients themselves have long sought to be able to accurately predict (and extend) an individual’s longevity. And given the right situations, such estimates could have health care benefits.
Over the past several years, scientists have identified four genetic and molecular biomarkers that potentially predict human and animal longevity. The first is the rate at which an individual’s telomeres shorten in length. There is increasing evidence from both human and animal studies that the slower the rate of telomere shortening, the longer that individual is likely to live. The second is the rate of gene methylation, indicating an increased level of methylation was correlated with shortened longevity. The third is the polygenic risk. A recently reported genetic analysis can identify “10 percent of people with the most protective genes, who will live an average of five years longer than the least ...
