Longevity defined as top 10% survivors and beyond is transmitted as a quantitative genetic trait

Niels van den Berg; Mar Rodríguez-Girondo; Ingrid K. van Dijk; Rick J. Mourits; Kees Mandemakers; Angelique A. P. O. Janssens; Marian Beekman; Ken R. Smith; P. Eline Slagboom

doi:10.1038/s41467-018-07925-0

Nature Communications (Jan 2019)

Longevity defined as top 10% survivors and beyond is transmitted as a quantitative genetic trait

Niels van den Berg,
Mar Rodríguez-Girondo,
Ingrid K. van Dijk,
Rick J. Mourits,
Kees Mandemakers,
Angelique A. P. O. Janssens,
Marian Beekman,
Ken R. Smith,
P. Eline Slagboom

Affiliations

Niels van den Berg: Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Section of Molecular Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center
Mar Rodríguez-Girondo: Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Section of Medical Statistics, Leiden University Medical Center
Ingrid K. van Dijk: Radboud Group for Historical Demography and Family History, Radboud University
Rick J. Mourits: Radboud Group for Historical Demography and Family History, Radboud University
Kees Mandemakers: International Institute of Social History
Angelique A. P. O. Janssens: Radboud Group for Historical Demography and Family History, Radboud University
Marian Beekman: Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Section of Molecular Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center
Ken R. Smith: Department of Family and Consumer Studies, Population Sciences, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah
P. Eline Slagboom: Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Section of Molecular Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07925-0
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 1 – 12

Abstract

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While human lifespan is only moderately heritable, “getting old” runs in families. Here, van den Berg et al. study mortality data from three-generation cohorts to define a threshold for longevity and find that individuals have an increasing survival advantage with each additional relative in the top 10% survivors of their birth cohort.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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