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+--- Thread: Human "natural" life span is 38 years according to new study (/thread-7945.html)
Human "natural" life span is 38 years according to new study - C C - Dec 14, 2019
https://theconversation.com/a-new-study-shows-an-animals-lifespan-is-written-in-the-dna-for-humans-its-38-years-128623
EXCERPT: Humans have a “natural” lifespan of around 38 years, according to a new method we have developed for estimating the lifespans of different species by analysing their DNA. [...] humans today may be an exception to this study as advances in medicine and lifestyle have extended the average lifespan. [...] Extrapolating from genetic studies of species with known lifespans, we found that the extinct woolly mammoth probably lived around 60 years and bowhead whales can expect to enjoy more than two and a half centuries of life.
Our research, published today in Scientific Reports, looked at how DNA changes as an animal ages – and found that it varies from species to species and is related to how long the animal is likely to live. [...] Over the past few years researchers have developed DNA “clocks” that can determine how old an animal is using a special type of change in the DNA called DNA methylation. ... Despite DNA methylation being linked to ageing and lifespan, no research until now has used it as a method to estimate the lifespan of animals.
[...] The extinct Pinta Island giant tortoise had a lifespan of 120 years by our estimate. The last member of this species, Lonesome George, died in 2012 at age 112. Interestingly, we found Neanderthals and Denisovans, which are extinct species closely related to modern humans, had a maximum lifespan of 37.8 years... (MORE - details)
RE: Human "natural" life span is 38 years according to new study - Yazata - Dec 14, 2019
I'm exceedingly skeptical.
DNA methylation is often about silencing genes involved in growth and developmental processes. It can indicate adulthood, not necessarily death.
Since the end of the human genome project, it's been realized that just knowing the genes in the genome isn't the half of it. What matters as much or more than what genes are in there is how they are regulated, how they are turned on and off at the right times. Methylation is one (of several) ways that happens.