Mutant genes 'key to long life' (BBC)

[eppur_se_muova]

There is a clear link between living to 100 and inheriting a hyperactive version of an enzyme that prevents cells from ageing, researchers say.

Scientists from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the US say centenarian Ashkenazi Jews have this mutant gene.

They found that 86 very old people and their children had higher levels of telomerase which protects the DNA.

They say it may be possible to produce drugs that stimulate the enzyme.
***
The team at Einstein found that the centenarians and their offspring had higher levels of telomerase and significantly longer telomeres than the unrelated people in the control group and that the trait was strongly heritable.
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more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8359735.stm

[Xipe Totec]

1. So we found the Methuselah gene?

[Ozymanithrax]

2. Heinlein was right.

Now, we just have to start paying these people to reproduce.

[Xipe Totec]

3. I don't know what to say...

Except, I don't want to hump my grandmother...

:scared: