International "longevity gene"

Elvira Koshkina, Compulenta

Scientists from the University of Kiel (Germany) have found that European and Japanese centenarians have some genetic similarities.

The researchers compared DNA samples from 388 Germans who celebrated their centenary with genome samples from 731 middle-aged and elderly people. As it turned out, the oldest subjects most often have a certain type of the Foxo3a gene.

This discovery confirms the data obtained by American scientists led by Bradley Willcox in September 2008. Then the genetic variation Foxo3a was found in the majority of Japanese Americans aged 95 years and older. The same trend was revealed among the French, who celebrated their hundredth birthday.

The results of these studies suggest that the Foxo3a gene is directly related to longevity and is present not only in Japanese, but also in people of other nations around the world.

Geneticists have been showing increased interest in Foxo3a since the 90s of the last century, when it was discovered that this gene is associated with aging processes in worms and flies. However, until now, scientists have not been able to solve a difficult problem – to recruit a sufficient number of centenarians whose age exceeds 100 years to participate in research. The German geneticists were helped by the Popgen biobank, which gave them access to its genetic archive. Today, this biobank has one of the world's largest collections of DNA of centenarians, which has more than 660 samples.

Prepared based on the materials of the University of Kiel.

Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru
05.02.2009