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CNN Live At Daybreak
Doctors Discover Genes Linked to Long Life
Aired August 27, 2001 - 07:42 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
VINCE CELLINI, CNN ANCHOR: Well, there is exciting news this morning on research into genes linked to long life. And here to talk about it is CNN's science correspondent Ann Kellan.
Good morning, Ann.
ANN KELLAN, CNN SCIENCE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
Isn't it great, you wake up in the morning and they -- you find out on a Monday that you could live a longer life?
CELLINI: Well, fill us in now, what exactly did they find? What are we talking about?
KELLAN: Well, basically what they did was they didn't find the fountain of youth, they say they may have found or targeted a fountain of aging. They studied -- doctors affiliated with Harvard Medical School studied 137 sibling pairs, brother and sister teams. They had to be -- one of them had to be 98 years old or older and the other one had to be 91 to 109 or was 91 to 109. So we're talking very old people. And what they did was they studied their genes, their DNA and they wanted to find out if there is a gene or genes that could link to living a longer life. And what they found was a group of genes, they're not exactly sure exactly where these genes are but they've targeted to chromosome 4 so they know now the vicinity of where...
CELLINI: OK.
KELLAN: ... these genes are that were very similar among these people who live long lives. So it's exciting to know that, yes, there could possibly be genetics linked to people living a long life so then they can look at these genes eventually and study them and figure out treatments, therapies, to make people who don't live those long lives possibly live longer.
CELLINI: Well this all sounds great, but where are they right now in terms of trying to pinpoint exactly the work necessary to make us live longer?
KELLAN: Well, basically what they have now, if you think of DNA as the map of the United States, they've targeted the state. They have found an area of the country, the state where these genes are, but now they have to find the towns, the streets.
CELLINI: OK.
KELLAN: They have to figure out what these genes are, what they do, how they work. They don't know whether these genes protect these people against let's say heart disease, cancer. They don't know if they make them stronger against environmental factors like if you eat too much fat or you drink too much or, you know, what is it about these genes that keep these people living longer. What's exciting is they know that there's possibly genetic links to living longer.
CELLINI: I could save you a lot of time, just talk to Dick Clark and...
KELLAN: Look at them.
CELLINI: ... we'll get the secret right there.
(CROSSTALK)
CELLINI: Ann Kellan, thank you very much.
KELLAN: You're very welcome.
CELLINI: Good to see you this morning.
KELLAN: Sure.
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