Centenarians’ Siblings Have Long Lives Too

Siblings of people who live to be 100 are much more likely to survive to 100 themselves and have a lower rate of mortality throughout their entire lives, according to Boston and Berkeley researchers.

The team studied 444 families in which at least one family member lived at least 100 years. They reported in Tuesday’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that sisters of the centenarians had about half the normal risk of dying at any given age. Brothers had a similarly low risk, except during the teen years and early adulthood.

This survival is likely due to genetics and environmental factors, but the roles of each have not yet been determined. Researchers hope to find genes that lead to long life.

One group has already discovered a region on chromosome 4 that they say is “highly suggestive” of genetic predisposition to exceptional longevity.