Genes of healthy old people
Researchers reveal the genomics of health
Most diseases have a genetic component. To better understand diseases and health, researchers led by the Garvan Institute for Medical Research are analyzing genetic information, according to a press release from Researchers discover the genomics of health.
For the first time in the world, the team has compiled a reference database of the genomes of thousands of healthy older Australians, which has the potential to predict disease-related gene variants more accurately than was previously possible.
The researchers analyzed the first 2570 genomes from the Medical Genome Bank (MGRB) and published the results in the journal Nature Communications (Pinese et al., The Medical Genome Reference Bank contains whole genome and phenotype data of 2570 healthy elderly).
"By conducting a comprehensive analysis of healthy people, we will be able to get a clearer idea of which genes are associated with diseases and which are not. The genome bank will provide an ideal foundation for future genome research in Australia," he says. Professor David Thomas is the head of the Garvan Cancer Research Topic and Director of the Kinghorn Cancer Center.
The basis of healthy aging
Each person has about 6 billion "letters" of DNA in their genome, which encode all the information necessary to create and run every cell in the body. There are millions of differences or variations in a single letter between any two unrelated people.
Differences distinguish us from others, but some of them can cause diseases – the task of researchers is to determine exactly which genes cause them.
The authors of this article publish genomic data on 2,570 healthy elderly Australians (from 64 to 95 years old) who did not have cancer, cardiovascular or neurodegenerative diseases before reaching the age of at least 70 years.
"This study gives scientists a much more statistically powerful basis for identifying new variants of genes that cause diseases," says Professor Thomas. "For example, when we analyzed the genomes of prostate cancer patients, we found that using MGRB as a 'control system' gave us a 25% higher predictive power of disease–related gene variants than another genome database that researchers typically use to search."
Determination of biological age by DNA
Using whole genome sequencing, the researchers were able to detect genetic changes associated with aging, including shorter telomeres – "caps" at the ends of chromosomes – and fewer mitochondrial DNA, which encodes the energy generators of cells. Interestingly, the researchers found that the amount of mitochondrial DNA was associated with a stronger handshake in men.
"We were able to detect changes in genomes associated with differences in physical fitness between healthy elderly people of the same age. This indicates that the DNA in an individual's blood sample may provide a better indicator of their biological age than their chronological age," says Professor Thomas.
"The ability to determine biological age can better predict people's health status. As the population ages, understanding the genetic basis of healthy aging becomes more and more important," says Professor Thomas.
The first data release is available to researchers through the Vectis platform. After the study is completed, the Genome Bank will contain the genomic data of more than 4,000 elderly Australians.
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