Science News Archive

Old Relatives ? Then You'll Live a Long Time Too !

They say long life begets long life, and it seems to be true. Recent analyses of 444 families in which a family member has lived to be over 100 has shown that the brothers and sisters of that person have roughly half the risk of dying at any given age (apart from as teenagers and young adults for the men) than an average person in the population. This, say the researchers, shows that genetics influences play a more important role in longevity that environmental factors.

3rd Aug 2002