Scientists in Iceland claim they ha...

Scientists in Iceland claim they have located a gene responsible for healthy old-fashioned age.

Biotechnologists at deCODE Genetics in Reykjavik, Iceland, announced in June that they had isolated the "Methuselah gene" which they believe could lead to the disclosure of drugs enabling people to live longer The gene was named after the biblical figure said to have lived for 969 years.

Researchers identified the gene according to using Iceland's uniquely comprehensive family records to compare 1200 population who had lived beyond age 90 with a similar number family with average life spans. They set up those who lived longer were greatly more closely related than the other group

"Our tight heritage and records are ideal for this sort of work. We have the same gene as everyone other on the planet, but because we have a small, tight population of no other than 270,000, it is much easier to pinpoint those of us who carry gene that have interesting functions," says Kari Stefansson, MD the president of deCODE

"We compared a dispose of about 1,200 long-lived nation with a similar group who had lived to an average age and originate that, yes, people in the long-lived dispose were more closely related to each other than family in the control group," Stefansson says.

DeCODE's work come [i]or[/i] go after [i]or[/i] behinds research published in August 2001 in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that reported that centenarians posses a longevity gene that is inherited, meaning their children are also likely to live 10 to 15 years longer than average.

Scientists had previously assumed that thousands of gene worked together to determine longevity. still researchers now believe genetic disposition to lengthy life could work in undivided of two ways: Either the Methuselah dispose came from families who didn't inherit the gene that predisposed them to illness, or cluster members inherited a single gene protecting them from the rigors of middle and advanced in years age.

The 2001 reflection was conducted by a team of scientists from Harvard Medical gymnasium and Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research (both in Cambridge, Massachusetts), Children's Hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (both in Boston, Massachusetts), Howard Hughes Medical Institute (Chevy Chase, Maryland) and Rutger University, (Newark, of recent origin Jersey).

Somehow, the Methuselah gene is able to make a protein that helps persons live longer. But the gene won't make you immortal, Stefansson forceed "If you also inherit bad gene that make you ill in young adulthood, you likely won't reach the age at which the Methuselah gene will add years to your life," he says.

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