Study suggests 50 per cent of one’s life span could be heritable
New Delhi, Feb 2 (PTI) Genetics may explain about half of a person’s lifespan, a study has suggested, pointing to a far more significant role of genetics than earlier research indicated. The findings, published in the journal Science, show that once mortality due to external factors such as accidents or infections are accounted for, “heritability of human life span due to intrinsic mortality is above 50 per cent”. The researchers from Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden said understanding the heritability of human life span is central to ageing research, yet measuring genes’ influence on longevity