How genes influence life span: the biodemography of human survival.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of human life span, none of
the genetic variants has reached the level of genome-wide statistical significance.
The roles of such variants in life span regulation remain unclear. DATA AND METHOD:
A biodemographic analyses was done of genetic regulation of life span using data on
low-significance longevity alleles selected in the earlier GWAS of the original Framingham
cohort. RESULTS: Age-specific survival curves considered as functions of the number
of longevity alleles exhibit regularities known in demography as "rectangularization"
of survival curves. The presence of such pattern confirms observations from experimental
studies that regulation of life span involves genes responsible for stress resistance.
CONCLUSION: Biodemographic analyses could provide important information about the
properties of genes affecting phenotypic traits.
Type
Journal articlePermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/14874Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1089/rej.2011.1290Publication Info
Yashin, Anatoliy I; Wu, Deqing; Arbeev, Konstantin G; Stallard, Eric; Land, Kenneth
C; & Ukraintseva, Svetlana V (2012). How genes influence life span: the biodemography of human survival. Rejuvenation Res, 15(4). pp. 374-380. 10.1089/rej.2011.1290. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/14874.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Konstantin Arbeev
Associate Research Professor in the Social Science Research Institute
Konstantin G. Arbeev received the M.S. degree in Applied Mathematics from Moscow State
University (branch in Ulyanovsk, Russia) in 1995 and the Ph.D. degree in Mathematics
and Physics (specialization in Theoretical Foundations of Mathematical Modeling, Numerical
Methods and Programming) from Ulyanovsk State University (Russia) in 1999. He was
a post-doctoral fellow in Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Rostock
(Germany) before moving to Duke University in 2004 to work as a Resea
Kenneth C. Land
John Franklin Crowell Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology
I received my Ph.D. in sociology and mathematics from
the University of Texas at Austin in 1969. After a year of
postdoctoral study in mathematical statistics at
Columbia University in New York City, I taught there
and was a member of the staff of the Russell Sage
Foundation for three years. I then was successively a
member of the faculties of the University of Illinois at
Urbana Champaign and the University of Texas at Austin
before joining the Duke Sociology Department as
Chairman in
Svetlana Ukraintseva
Associate Research Professor in the Social Science Research Institute
Dr. Ukraintseva studies causes of human aging and related decline in resilience, to
identify genetic and other factors responsible for the increase in mortality risk
with age eventually limiting longevity. She explores complex relationships, including
trade-offs, between physiological aging-changes and risks of major diseases (with
emphasis on Alzheimer’s and cancer), as well as survival, to find new genetic and
other targets for anti-aging interventions and disease prevention. S
Dequing Wu
Research Scientist, Senior
Anatoli I. Yashin
Research Professor in the Social Science Research Institute
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