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Taming time: The science of getting older

Maybe some day in the future, our vision of birthdays will change. Scientists investigating the genetics of aging are looking for ways to lengthen the years of vim and vigor or extend the human life span.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, amednews staff. July 1, 2002.

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Mapping Disease
As the results of the Human Genome Project began to shake out into clinical applications, this 2001-02 series detailed progress in the prevention and treatment of a variety of diseases and conditions -- both on the near horizon and possibilities far into the future.

Humans have dreamt, written and sung about living forever -- or at least living longer -- since the beginning of civilization.

There were the Greek gods who occasionally shared their immortality with mere mortals. And Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead. In modern literature, living longer is a frequent theme, particularly in science fiction.

In science and medicine, the hunt for the genetic basis of aging, and ways to address it, is the long-sought holy grail, the fountain of youth, the sweeping theory that promises to explain everything about human health -- the reasons for immunity, vulnerability, health, sickness, strength and frailty.

"Unlike cancer and heart disease and all the other diseases, everybody ages," said Robert Costa, PhD, professor of molecular genetics at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "And because we're living longer, we're seeing some of the problems with aging, stuff we never saw before."

To a certain extent, American society is already addressing the genetics of aging. On average, Americans have children later in life than those in less-developed countries, weeding out genes more likely to result in death at an early age.

Many believe this phenomenon -- along with improved medical care and better nutrition -- has played a part in the near doubling of life expectancy and the growing population of centenarians that has occurred during the past 100 years. Several studies have also confirmed that living longer has at least some genetic basis.

Most recently, a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found siblings of centenarians had lower mortality rates than the population at any age after adolescence. Other studies have found centenarians tend to be healthier at every age. [...]