This article talks about how having fewer kids can help you live longer. This is simple possibly due to less stress and less focus on reproduction. Elephants have long life spans and few kids where birds have many and shorter life. This is interesting because it somewhat makes sense as when you stress more you loose more and tend to over exert yourself leading to other health issues. Telomeres are protective caps att he ends of chromosomes, which help a human live longer. They start at a certain length and divide every time a cell grows. Geese were compared to small bird species because Geese have a better ability to preserve the length of their telomeres. Scientists believe this true because animals with longer lifespans invest more in maintaining bodily functions. A very interesting fact is that the telomeres varied in gender of the Geese and are best preserved in males. Female geese have two different chromosomes which is totally different in humans. There is an article attached that is a study of longevity and reproduction in the historical human population.
article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/03/130327103045.htm
other article: http://www.jstor.org.ezproxy.stockton.edu:2048/stable/2665611?&Search=yes&searchText=humans&searchText=reproduction&searchText=longevity&list=hide&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoAdvancedSearch%3Fq0%3Dlongevity%26f0%3Dall%26c1%3DAND%26q1%3Dreproduction%26f1%3Dall%26c2%3DAND%26q2%3Dhumans%26f2%3Dall%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don%26fc%3Doff%26Search%3DSearch%26sd%3D%26ed%3D%26la%3D%26pt%3D%26isbn%3D&prevSearch=&item=1&ttl=2749&returnArticleService=showFullText
Yet another great research article explaining the importance of telomere length and life extension, or life expectancy. I'm happy to see that this research is getting a relatively good amount of media attention solely due to the fact that research in this field of genetics will be imperative to life extension of humans in the future. Furthermore, this is one more reason to avoid early reproduction and live a more stress-free and "regenerative" lifestyle until an older age. As a male in his twenties, the last thing I want is a child; all this article does is give me another excuse to avoid commitment and live a long-telomered lifestyle.
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