15 genes linked to a long life

By Roger Highfield, Science Editor
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 13/03/2008

Scientists are a step closer to developing an anti-ageing pill with the discovery of 15 genes linked to a long life.

The find suggests that those genes could be targeted to help slow down the ageing process and treat age-related conditions.

Scientists at the University of Washington and other institutions report in the journal Genome Research that they have identified 25 genes that influence lifespan in two organisms, yeast and the roundworm, and at least 15 of those have similar versions in humans.
advertisement

Finding genes that are the same in those two organisms is significant, researchers say, because the two species are so far apart on the evolutionary scale – even farther apart than the tiny worms and humans.

That, combined with the presence of similar human genes, is an indication that these genes could regulate human longevity as well. Source