Analyzing DNA will help predict the life span of a person: Study

New York: Studies suggest that analyzing genes may help discover how long a person will live or how sooner a person will die. In the study conducted, researchers analyzed the combined effect of genetic variations that influence lifespan to produce a scoring system.

As per the study, people who score in the top 10 per cent of the population might expect to live up to five years longer than those who score in the lowest 10 per cent, they said.

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The findings also revealed fresh perspectives about diseases and the biological mechanisms involved in ageing. The researchers looked at genetic data from more than half a million people alongside records of their parents’ lifespan.

Some 12 areas of the human genome were pinpointed as having a significant impact on lifespan, including five sites that have not been reported before, according to the study.

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The DNA sites with the greatest impact on overall lifespan were those that have previously been linked to fatal illnesses, including heart disease and smoking-related conditions, researchers said.

Researchers found genes that affect the brain and the heart and are responsible for most of the variation in lifespan

However, genes that have been linked to other cancers, not directly associated with smoking, were not revealed in the study.

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The research suggested that susceptibility to death caused by these cancers is either a result of rarer genetic differences in affected people, or social and environmental factors.

The researchers had hoped to discover genes that directly influence how quickly people age. They said that if such genes exist, their effects were too small to be detected in this study.

If it becomes possible, then genes will enable to discover how long a person will live, this achievement will turn out to be a milestone in medical field.