Inheriting the DNA of the ancestors, the secret of making the descendants a hundred years old

According to RCO News Agency, Centenarian Italians have a higher proportion of DNA inherited from ancient hunter-gatherers than the general population, according to a new study. A finding that can lead to a better understanding of the aging process.

According to the Independent, previous studies have shown that “good genes” inherited from ancestors, along with other factors such as environment and daily habits, contribute to people’s longevity.

While previous studies have shown that Italy has one of the highest statistics of centenarians in the world, the exact reasons for this phenomenon are still unclear. To understand this, scientists analyzed the genomes of more than 300 centenarians and nearly 700 healthy adults with an average age of about 50 years.

The researchers then compared the DNA of these people with the ancient genomes of the four groups that make up the modern population of Italy. These groups included the descendants of the Western Hunter-Gatherers, who were the first inhabitants of Europe after the Ice Age, as well as the Neolithic farmers of Anatolia, the nomadic groups of the Bronze Age, and the ancient groups of Iran and the Caucasus.

Scientists found that people who reached the age of 100 had, on average, more Western hunter-gatherer (WHG) DNA than the average person.

While the Italians examined in this study carried a mixture of DNA from all four ancient groups, only the genetic material from Western hunter-gatherers was found to be associated with longevity.

The study showed that with every small increase in the amount of hunter-gatherer DNA, a person’s chance of living to be a centenarian increases by 38%. According to this study, women who had a greater share of this ancient DNA showed more than twice the chance of reaching 100 years of age than men.

Researchers think that these genes probably gained superiority during the last ice age; When our ancestors had to adapt to survive in very harsh conditions with limited food resources.

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