Genetic Determinants of Human Longevity

<p>In the last two decades due to the continuous increase of lifespans in Western<br />societies and the consequent growing of the elderly population have witnessed<br />an increase in the number of studies on biological and molecular factors able to<br />promote healthy aging and reach longevity. The study of the genetic component<br />of human longevity demonstrated that it accounts for 25% of intra population<br />phenotype variance. The efforts made to characterize the genetic determinants<br />suggested that the maintenance of cellular integrity inflammation oxidative<br />stress response DNA repair as well as the use of nutrients represent the most<br />important pathways correlated with a longer lifespan. However although a<br />plethora of variants were indicated to be associated with human longevity only<br />very few were successfully replicated in different populations probably because<br />of population specificity missing heritability as well as a complex interaction<br />among genetic factors with lifestyle and cultural factors which modulate the<br />individual chance of living longer. Thus many challenges remain to be addressed<br />in the search for the genetic components of human longevity. This Special Issue is<br />aimed to unify the progress in the analysis of the genetic determinants of human<br />longevity to take stock of the situation and point to future directions of the field.<br />We invite submissions for reviews research articles short-communications<br />dealing with genetic association studies in human longevity including all types of<br />genetic variation as well as the characterization of longevity-related genes.</p>