Monday, October 22, 2018

Scientist Create Genetic Score that Predicts Lifespan



It has always been known that eating your vegetables and exercising at least three times a week can help increase life expectancy, but scientist may have found a way to “predict a person’s lifespan by studying genetic variations in the human genome that are responsible for the inevitable process of aging.” A study recently presented at the American Society of Human Genetics 2018 Annual Meeting held in San Diego, CA suggested that genetic variations might be able to predict which individuals will live longer.

The team collected data from over a half a million of people and researchers were able to discover 21 genetic locations that play a role in human lifespan. The genetic score was said to “accurately predict lifespan into deciles of expectation of life with a difference of more than 5 years from top to bottom decile.” Paul Timmers, the leading researcher stated that “Using a person’s genetic information alone, we can identify the 10 percent of people with the most protective genes, who will live an average of 5 years longer than the least protected 10 percent.”

 I do find it interesting that a genetic score may be able to predict lifespans and although the study have shown quite accurate results from predicting a person’s lifespan based on the study they have done, I’m not too sure if I can fully believe it because there are just too many factors that influence lifespan such as making healthy lifestyle decisions.

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