Genetic Determinants of Human Longevity

In the last two decades, due to the continuous increase of lifespans in Western

societies, and the consequent growing of the elderly population, have witnessed

an increase in the number of studies on biological and molecular factors able to

promote healthy aging and reach longevity. The study of the genetic component

of human longevity demonstrated that it accounts for 25% of intra population

phenotype variance. The efforts made to characterize the genetic determinants

suggested that the maintenance of cellular integrity, inflammation, oxidative

stress response, DNA repair, as well as the use of nutrients, represent the most

important pathways correlated with a longer lifespan. However, although a

plethora of variants were indicated to be associated with human longevity, only

very few were successfully replicated in different populations, probably because

of population specificity, missing heritability as well as a complex interaction

among genetic factors with lifestyle and cultural factors, which modulate the

individual chance of living longer. Thus, many challenges remain to be addressed

in the search for the genetic components of human longevity. This Special Issue is

aimed to unify the progress in the analysis of the genetic determinants of human

longevity, to take stock of the situation and point to future directions of the field.

We invite submissions for reviews, research articles, short-communications

dealing with genetic association studies in human longevity, including all types of

genetic variation, as well as the characterization of longevity-related genes.