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A race to unlock genetic clues behind living to 100 is set to begin next year, after a US team announced it will compete for the $10 million Genomics X Prize.

Genetic entrepreneur Dr. Jonathan Rothberg is entering the challenge to identify genes linked to a long, healthy life.

His team – and any other contenders – will be given 30 days to work out the full DNA code of 100 centenarians at a cost of no more than $1,000 per genome.

The race will start in September 2013.

Under the rules of the Archon Genomics X Prize, teams have until next May to register for the competition.

A race to unlock genetic clues behind living to 100 is set to begin next year, after a US team announced it will compete for the $10 million Genomics X Prize

A race to unlock genetic clues behind living to 100 is set to begin next year, after a US team announced it will compete for the $10 million Genomics X Prize

Dr. Jonathan Rothberg’s team from Life Technologies Corporation in California is the first to formally enter the race.

Being able to sequence the full human genome at a cost of $1,000 or less is regarded as a milestone in science.

It is seen as the threshold at which DNA sequencing technology becomes cheap enough to be used widely in medicine, helping in diagnosis and in matching drugs to a patient’s genetic make-up.

One hundred people aged 100 have donated their DNA for the project.

Scientists believe people who reach a very old age may have certain rare changes in their genes which protect against common diseases of later life, such as heart disease and cancer.

If these genes can be identified by analyzing the DNA codes of centenarians, it will help scientists search for new medical treatments and perhaps ways to prolong life.

However, many sample DNA sequences will be needed in order to get the accuracy needed to pinpoint changes on the scale of a few genetic letters among the three billion in the human genome.

Dr Jonathan Rothberg, a geneticist and entrepreneur, said the DNA of 100 centenarians is a good start towards finding “the fountains of youth”.

He said: “One hundred people will give you a hint. One thousand will make you reasonably sure. Ten thousand will let you say, <<Hey, these are the genes involved in cancer or heart disease>>.”

Dr. Craig Venter is the originator of the prize and one of the main players in the race to sequence the first human genome, which was completed in 2003.

He said he could never have imagined that genome sequencing would come this far in so little time.

Dr. Craig Venter: “I can’t emphasize [enough] how impressed I am with the progress of technology and the dropping of the cost.

“If they can do a human genome in two hours with one little machine, it’s just stunning. We have come a long way.”

The X Prize Foundation offers awards for solutions to modern scientific challenges, from space to the human genome.

Any data gleaned from the X Prize will be shared with other scientists in the field, to aid the quest for insights into ageing.

 

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US scientists have found that children with older fathers and grandfathers appear to be “genetically programmed” to live longer.

The genetic make-up of sperm changes as a man ages and develops DNA code that favors a longer life – a trait he then passes to his children.

The team found the link after analyzing the DNA of 1,779 young adults.

Their work appears in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Experts have known for some time that lifespan is linked to the length of structures known as telomeres that sit at the end of the chromosomes that house our genetic code, DNA. Generally, a shorter telomere length means a shorter life expectancy.

Like the plastic tips on shoelaces, telomeres protect chromosomal ends from damage. But in most cells, they shorten with age until the cells are no longer able to replicate.

US scientists have found that children with older fathers and grandfathers appear to be "genetically programmed" to live longer

US scientists have found that children with older fathers and grandfathers appear to be "genetically programmed" to live longer

However, scientists have discovered that in sperm, telomeres lengthen with age.

And since men pass on their DNA to their children via sperm, these long telomeres can be inherited by the next generation.

Dr. Dan Eisenberg and colleagues from the Department of Anthropology at Northwestern University studied telomere inheritance in a group of young people living in the Philippines.

Telomeres, measured in blood samples, were longer in individuals whose father’s were older when they were born.

The telomere lengthening seen with each year that the men delayed fatherhood was equal to the yearly shortening of telomere length that occurs in middle-aged adults.

Telomere lengthening was even greater if the child’s paternal grandfather had also been older when he became a father.

Although delaying fatherhood increases the risk of miscarriage, the researchers believe there may be long-term health benefits.

Inheriting longer telomeres will be particularly beneficial for tissues and biological functions that involve rapid cell growth and turnover – such as the immune system, gut and skin – the scientists believe.

And it could have significant implications for general population health.

“As paternal ancestors delay reproduction, longer telomere length will be passed to offspring, which could allow life span to be extended as populations survive to reproduce at older ages.”

It might be possible that the advantage of receiving long telomeres from an old father is more then set off by the disadvantage of higher levels of general DNA damage and mutations in sperm, he said.

 

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