Heijmans B T, Westendorp R G, Slagboom P E
Department of Vascular and Connective Tissue Research, TNO Prevention and Health, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Exp Gerontol. 2000 Sep;35(6-7):865-77. doi: 10.1016/s0531-5565(00)00171-6.
Genetic factors influence variation in human life span. The fast technological advancements in genome research and the methodology for statistical analysis of complex traits provided new tools to unravel these genetic influences. Most of the genetic epidemiology and quantitative genetics is focused on the dissection of the genetic component of specific diseases rather than of human life span. Nevertheless, common variants of 22 genes have been tested for their contribution to mortality in the general population and extreme longevity in one or more studies. These studies provide indications as to the nature of biological pathways that might play a role in human ageing. Perhaps even more important at this time is the fact that they give valuable insights in the strengths and weaknesses of current strategies to identify gene variants affecting human life span and point at more powerful approaches.
遗传因素影响人类寿命的差异。基因组研究的快速技术进步以及复杂性状统计分析方法提供了新工具来揭示这些遗传影响。大多数遗传流行病学和数量遗传学专注于剖析特定疾病的遗传成分，而非人类寿命。然而，在一项或多项研究中，已经对22个基因的常见变异对普通人群死亡率和极端长寿的贡献进行了测试。这些研究为可能在人类衰老中起作用的生物途径的性质提供了线索。也许此时更重要的是，它们为当前识别影响人类寿命的基因变异的策略的优缺点提供了有价值的见解，并指出了更有效的方法。
