Ashkenazi Genotype Linked To Longevity

A genetic profile in 214 Ashkenazi Jewish centenarians and nonagenarians linked to longevity and discovered by two researchers at New York's Albert Einstein College of Medicine lends clues to healthy aging in non-Ashkenazi and non-Jewish populations around the world.

The researchers looked for genetic clues to longevity in the Ashkenazim. They chose this group because - as shown by historical records and modern genetic evidence - Ashkenazim are descended from a founder group of just 30,000 people and thus are more genetically uniform than other demographic groups. This, they explained, simplified the challenge of associating a genotype with its phenotype.

The researchers have for the first time found that people carry alleles that confer a sort of longevity advantage.
Not only was the genotype connected with longevity, but it was also linked with cardiovascular health, a lower incidence of hypertension and proper insulin metabolism.

The Einstein researchers hope to uncover more clues to the genetic influences on aging - and then begin to develop strategies to ease the inevitable slide into one's twilight years.