Genome-wide approaches to understanding human ageing

The use of genomic technologies in biogerontology has the potential to greatly enhance our understanding of human ageing. High-throughput screens for alleles correlated with survival in long-lived people have uncovered novel genes involved in age-associated disease. Genome-wide longevity studies in simple eukaryotes are identifying evolutionarily conserved pathways that determine longevity. It is hoped that validation of these 'public' aspects of ageing in mice, along with analyses of variation in candidate human ageing genes, will provide targets for future interventions to slow the ageing process and retard the onset of age-associated pathologies.