Scientists have found specific genetic variants which may explain why some people age earlier than others and say their findings have important implications for understanding cancer and age-related diseases.
Dutch and British researchers analysed more than 500,000 genetic variations from human gene maps and found that people with particular variants near a gene called TERC were likely to be biologically older by three to four years.
“What our study suggests is that some people are genetically programmed to age at a faster rate. The effect was quite considerable in those with the variant,” said Tim Spector from King’s College London, who co-led the study.
In a study published in the Nature Genetics journal, the scientists explained that there are two forms of ageing – chronological and biological. “There is accumulating evidence that the risk of age-associated diseases including heart disease and some types of cancers are more closely related to biological rather than chronological age,” said Nilesh Samani, a cardiology professor at Britains Leicester University, who worked on the study. The researchers studied structures called telomeres – protective caps on the ends of chromosomes whose length is associated with cell ageing.