One of the million-dollar questions- is longevity inherited?
It is normally believed that a part of longevity is inherited- and a part of it is dependent on a host of modifiable local factors. The secret to longevity was unlocked by three scientists Blackburn, Greider and Stostak in the early 2000s when they discovered telomeres. Telomeres are composed of repetitive nucleotide sequences that fits like a ‘cap on the chromosomes and prevent the chromosomes from unravelling during cell division- Dr Blackburn describing telomeres akin to the little plastic caps at the end of shoe laces that prevent the laces from unravelling. However, every time the cells divides, the telomere loses sub-units- and as it dis-assembles, an enzyme called ‘telomerase’ restores it to its near original state. Despite restoration, telomerase do get shorter with age until they shrink beyond a point of no return and the cell is no longer capable of division and becomes ‘senescent’ and eventually dies.
The length of the telomeres are inherited and people with longer telomeres do live longer. Short telomeres also increase the risk of degenerative diseases like congenital pulmonary fibrosis (affects the lungs) or ulcerative colitis- However, recent research suggests that an unhealthy lifestyle and even stress reduces the length of telomeres
