Life expectancy has risen sharply, but healthy years have not kept pace. Living an unusually long life often runs in families and is linked to getting chronic illness later. Still, the genes behind this protection are not well understood.
People grow old in different ways. Some stay healthy well into old age, while others get serious health problems much earlier. As populations around the world grow older, understanding why matters more than ever.
New research shown at a conference in Gothenburg suggests that studying whole long-lived families gives a clearer picture of what helps people stay healthy longer.
Why Studying Families Helps
A long life depends on more than genes — money, lifestyle, and environment matter too. That is why some people from ordinary families still live very long lives, while some from long-lived families do not.
Pasquale Putter, a PhD student at Leiden University Medical Center, said his team found that middle-aged people with long-lived parents developed heart and metabolic diseases about 13 years later than others. "This showed the longer healthspan was passed down," he says.
Searching for Longevity Genes
Researchers studied the genes of 212 groups of long-lived siblings and found four genome regions likely linked to long life, narrowing their focus from about 20,000 genes to 350. Further analysis found 12 rare gene changes that may help.
The CGAS Gene
One change was found in the CGAS gene, already linked to aging, in two long-lived families. Normally, CGAS causes inflammation when it finds DNA in the wrong place inside a cell, which can happen during infection or cell damage.
Putter says these families likely had only one active copy of CGAS instead of two. This may have lowered inflammation while still letting their bodies fight infection and repair damage — possibly protecting against aging without weakening the body's defenses.
Next Steps
More research is needed, since CGAS's effects depend on context: shutting it down entirely could raise the risk of infection and cancer, while too much activity can cause chronic inflammation.
Researchers are now testing the mutation in killifish, short-lived fish, at the Max Planck Institute in Germany, to see if it extends lifespan and how it affects body tissues.
Alexandre Reymond, who chaired the conference and was not involved in the study, said the findings could help scientists better understand healthy aging — and point to ways to help more people live longer, healthier lives.