Centenarian genes offer longevity clues

• Autores: Clare Wilson
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 2985, 2014, pág. 10
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • The genetic secrets of centenarians are starting to be unraveled--and they hint that low cholesterol plays a role in their unusual longevity. To look for unknown rare mutations, Timothy Cash of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre in Madrid and his colleagues sequenced the entire exome--the protein-coding part of DNA--of three Spanish centenarians and four of their long-lived siblings. These were compared with the exomes of 800 people, many of whom could be assumed to have average lifespans, as only one in 5,000 people live to 100. One gene--apolipoprotein B--had rare mutations in all three long-lived families that were less common In the 800 controls. The protein made by this gene helps carry "bad cholesterol" in the blood, high levels of which lead to heart attacks. It is possible that the mutations reduce levels of this bad cholesterol.