Heritability of intrinsic human life span is about 50% when confounding factors are addressed
A stunning report by Uri Alon of the Weizmann Institute of Science and colleagues Ben Shenhar, Glen Pridham, Thaís Lopes de Oliveira (Karolinska Institutet), Naveh Raz, Yifan Yang, Joris Deelen (Leiden University Medical Center), Sara Hägg (Karolinska Institutet) revisits previous low estimates of the heritability of life span. They "show that these estimates are confounded by extrinsic mortality—deaths caused by extrinsic factors such as accidents or infections." They re-analyzed twin cohorts raised together and apart to correct for extrinsic factors, "revealing that heritability of human life span due to intrinsic mortality is above 50%." I think this is one of the most important results on the genetic determinants longevity, not because it identifies new genes or pathways but because it challenges a prevailing view in the field: that genes are a small piece of the equation. It will reinforce research on genes and related pathways that could be targeted to increase life- and health-span.
Yes, lifestyle, exercise, sleep, diet, social connections and keeping blood pressure in check are great levers, but even if you do the right things you are unlikely to make it to 105 with the wrong genes without a more aggressive clinical intervention.
Eric Verdin, Jordan Shlain, MD, Alex Zhavoronkov, Alex Colville, John Battelle, Richard Barker, Tim Opler