by Weizmann Institute of Science – MedicalXpress –
What determines how long we live—and to what extent is our lifespan shaped by our genes? Surprisingly, for decades, scientists believed that the heritability of human lifespan was relatively low compared to other human traits, standing at just 20–25%; some recent large-scale studies even placed it below 10%.
Now a study from the Weizmann Institute of Science, published in Science, presents an entirely different picture. According to the findings, genetics accounts for about 50% of variation in human lifespan—twice as much, or more, than previously thought. The study was led by Ben Shenhar from the lab of Prof. Uri Alon of Weizmann’s Molecular Cell Biology Department.
