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The secret to longevity? Scientists discover it depends more on genes than lifestyle

2026-01-31 23:09:26Lifestyle SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
The secret to longevity? Scientists discover it depends more on genes than
The secret to longevity? Scientists discover it depends more on genes than lifestyle

The secret to a long life may have less to do with daily habits and more to do with genetic inheritance, a new study suggests. According to researchers, genes play a much bigger role in human longevity than previously thought.

Your potential lifespan is written in your genes, according to a new scientific study. A healthy lifestyle can extend life to a certain extent, but if a person's genetic potential is, for example, to live to 80, it is highly unlikely that any lifestyle will take them to 100.

This is the main conclusion of a study published Thursday in the journal Science.

The study was led by Uri Alon of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and relied on in-depth analyses of data from three sets of Swedish twins, including twins who had been raised apart.

To test how general the findings were, the researchers also analyzed data from 2,092 siblings of 444 Americans who had lived over 100 years.

The goal of the research was to distinguish external factors that affect longevity - such as accidents or infections - from internal factors, namely genetic inheritance.

The results showed that aging and longevity are largely inherited, a conclusion that contradicts traditional medical beliefs that emphasize the crucial role of diet, physical activity and healthy habits. These habits are essential for quality of life, but according to the study, they cannot overcome the biological limit set by genes.

"If you want to know what your chances are of living to 100, look at how long your family members lived," said Thomas Perls, a geriatrician and director of the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University, whose data was used in the analysis.

According to him, the study's message is strong: people have less control over their lifespan than they think.

Professor of epidemiology S. Jay Olshansky from the University of Illinois described the study as a strong biological reminder.

"Some of us are driving a Mercedes and some of us are driving a Yugo," he said, implying that not everyone is born with the same biological potential.

The study's conclusions also match what is known about other living organisms.

To reach these conclusions, the researchers used statistical and mathematical models to rule out causes of death not directly related to aging, such as accidents or random diseases.

The analyses focused on Swedish twins born between 1900 and 1935, a period when – despite world wars, the Great Depression and flu pandemics – hygiene and medical care improved significantly. This allowed the researchers to more clearly observe the influence of genetic factors.

The results were also compared with data from Danish twins born between 1870 and 1900, when deaths from infectious diseases such as cholera and diphtheria were widespread.

Of the causes of death analyzed, the researchers found that cancer was least linked to genetics, while dementia was the disease most strongly influenced by family inheritance.

In the end, the study concluded that genes account for over 50 percent of the variation in lifespan within a population, much more than the estimate of about 25 percent from previous studies.

According to Alon, the reason for this difference is that older studies also included people who had died early from causes unrelated to aging, which downplayed the role of genetics and artificially increased the importance of lifestyle.

However, the researchers emphasize that lifestyle is not insignificant. Alon calculated that healthy or harmful habits can add or subtract about five years from the lifespan determined by genes.

A person with the genetic potential to live to 80 years old can die at 75 if they live an unhealthy life, or reach 85 if they follow every health rule.

Not all scientists are completely convinced. Bradley J. Willcox of the University of Hawaii said it is difficult to clearly separate biology from environment, as many deaths occur in a gray area where genes and external factors intertwine.

However, experts agree on one point: even for those who have inherited longevity genes, it is very easy to shorten their lives, but extremely difficult to extend them beyond the biological limit.


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