Sunday, November 16, 2014

Could There be a "Fountain of Youth" Gene?



Hinco Gierman and his team from the Stanford University Departments of Developmental Biology and Genetics sequenced the genomes of 17 individuals over the age of 110 years old, or "supercentarians." Researchers only analyzed 13 of these genomes limited to Caucasian females to eliminate major variations between the genomes studied. Looking for a "protein-altering variant," researchers found it in the TSHZ3 gene.

By studying the genomes of these 13 supercentarians along with genomes of younger people as the control, the team at Stanford found that the TSHZ3 transcription-factor gene was found most frequently in the genomes of the supercentarians. Researchers also studied 99 genomes of individuals ranging from 98-105 years of age and found similar results.

Although much more research is to be done, I am interested to see how researchers use their current and upcoming knowledge to use this "Fountain of Youth" gene to potentially help fight illnesses and improve the quality of life for people who reach such an old age.

Original Article: http://news.discovery.com/human/genetics/worlds-oldest-people-are-genetically-superior-141112.htm

Related Article: http://news.discovery.com/human/health/activating-gene-could-delay-aging-through-body-140911.htm

1 comment:

  1. I'm looking forward to more research being done on this! I love how as technology advances we're able to discover so much more in the field of science. Increasing longevity is a direction science research should always pursue! Imagine if we can live to see our great, great, grand kids!

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