Technology Review: The Secrets to Living Past 100

Technology Review: The Secrets to Living Past 100

A new project to partially sequence the genomes of 100 people age 100 or older could shed light on the genetic variations that allow some people to stay healthy decades beyond the average life expectancy. Dubbed the Methuselah Project, the endeavor will serve as a test bed for a new approach to sequencing developed at the Rothberg Institute, a non-profit research center in Guilford, CT. About 1 in 7,000 people live to be 100, many of them spry well into their 90s, but the reasons for their good health remain largely unknown.

"One of the women we'd like to look at is over 100, and up to two years ago, she was still playing tennis," says Jonathan Rothberg, founder of both 454 Life Sciences, a sequencing technology company based in Branford, CT, and the Rothberg Institute. "My dream is that we will find [genetic variations] that are enriched in this population that are protective."

comments: gene sequencing is revealing the underlying coding responsible for longevity. The Life Extension foundation, http://www.lef.org, is also doing research in the area of the genetic basis of longevity and is an excellent source for pharmaceutical grade supplements.

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