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Italian centenarians have a higher proportion of DNA inherited from ancient hunter-gatherers than the general population, according to a new study. better understanding of aging,
Studies have previously shown that “good” genes Things inherited from their ancestors as well as other factors like environment and daily habits help people live longer.
While previous research has shown that Italy is one of the Highest concentration of centenarians Its exact causes remain unclear in the world.
To understand this, scientists analyzed the genomes of more than 300 centenarians and nearly 700 healthy adults over the age of 50.
The researchers then compared the DNA of these individuals to the ancient genomes of the four groups that make up modern Italy.
These groups are descendants of Western hunter-gatherers, natives of Europe after the Ice Age, as well as Anatolian Neolithic farmers, Bronze Age nomadic groups, and ancient groups from the Iranian and Caucasus regions.
Scientists found that people who reach the age of 100 have more Western Hunter-Gatherer (WHG) DNA than the average person.
“The present study shows for the first time that WHG ancestry…contributes to longevity in the Italian population,” the researchers wrote in the study published in the journal Nature. ZeroScience.
While the Italians included in the study had a mix of DNA from all four ancient groups, only WHG genetic material was found to be associated with longevity.
The study found that with every small increase in hunter-gatherer DNA, a person’s chances of becoming a centenarian increased by 38 percent.
According to the research, if women had a higher proportion of this ancient DNA than men, they were more than twice as likely to live to the age of 100.
“We propose that the variants involved in this trait [longevity] “It may have been introduced into the Italian gene pool in very ancient times,” the scientists wrote.
Researchers suspect that these genes were probably favored during the last Ice Age, when our ancestors had to survive in extremely harsh conditions with limited food resources.
Scientists suspect that some of these genes may help improve metabolism to process food more efficiently and protect the body from age-related stress.
“We show a large contribution to Italian centenarians from western hunter-gatherer-related lineages, thus suggesting that this pre-Neolithic genetic component, linked to population changes occurring within Europe after the Last Glacial Maximum, may be beneficial for longevity today,” the researchers wrote.