DNA is not your destiny to a long life

Brett Connolly

12/10/10

Researchers can now predict with 77 percent accuracy who could live to be a 100 or higher based on genetics alone. But the DNA we are born with, the blueprint that underlies our very existence, from the color of our eyes to the predisposition for developing cancer is not the whole story. Our DNA is fixed, but researchers are now determining how chemical factors can influence the gene.

Anti-aging drugs are one chemical factor researchers are testing in laboratories. Scientists look at the genes to determine which ones are responsible for aging and try to test drugs for chemical reactions.

"If we can find enough of these genes that really enhance health, we can give these to the pharmaceutical industry and say look this gene makes this protein and this really seems to enhance human health. Is there any way we can make a drug now that has the same effect? That's the whole reason to study the genetics," said Dr. Steven Austad, a bio-gerontology professor at the University of Texas San Antonio. The two drugs showing the most promise are rapamycin and resveratrol but they're still unproven.   

Click on the audio report below for more on the relationship between genetics and longevity.