Study reveals rare, damaging inherited mutations work together to reduce lifespan

New Delhi, Apr 14 (ANI): The combined effects of rare and damaging mutations present at birth have a negative impact on healthspan and longevity, suggests a novel study. The findings suggest that one additional inherited damaging mutation could carve off six months of life, and the combinations of these rare mutations determine how soon someone will develop diseases such as cancer, heart disease and dementia. The study was published in the journal eLife. Most of the genetic variants linked to a lifespan that researchers currently know about have been found in people who live long, such as centenarians who live to 100 or older. The variants responsible for rest of the population's survival remain poorly understood. Now, researchers have proposed that the remaining variance that contributes to lifespan could be attributed to the combination of very rare, but highly damaging mutations, which are present in every person's genome.