Medical School, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
School of Medicine, University of Connecticut, Farmington, CT, USA.
Nat Rev Genet. 2020 Feb;21(2):88-101. doi: 10.1038/s41576-019-0183-6. Epub 2019 Nov 5.
The past two centuries have witnessed an unprecedented rise in human life expectancy. Sustaining longer lives with reduced periods of disability will require an understanding of the underlying mechanisms of ageing, and genetics is a powerful tool for identifying these mechanisms. Large-scale genome-wide association studies have recently identified many loci that influence key human ageing traits, including lifespan. Multi-trait loci have been linked with several age-related diseases, suggesting shared ageing influences. Mutations that drive accelerated ageing in prototypical progeria syndromes in humans point to an important role for genome maintenance and stability. Together, these different strands of genetic research are highlighting pathways for the discovery of anti-ageing interventions that may be applicable in humans.
在过去的两个世纪里,人类的预期寿命经历了前所未有的增长。要想在减少残疾期的情况下延长寿命,就需要了解衰老的潜在机制,而遗传学是识别这些机制的有力工具。最近,大规模全基因组关联研究已经确定了许多影响关键人类衰老特征的基因座,包括寿命。多基因座与几种与年龄相关的疾病有关,表明存在共同的衰老影响。在人类典型的早老综合征中,导致加速衰老的突变表明基因组维护和稳定性起着重要作用。这些不同的遗传研究线索共同强调了发现抗衰老干预措施的途径,这些措施可能适用于人类。