Scientists Found the Biggest Factor in How Long You’ll Live. There’s Not Much You Can Do About It.

By Elizabeth Rayne – Popular Mechanics

The internet is crawling with clickbait that flashes the newest superfood, supplement, or “weird old trick” (we’ve all seen that one before) to add years to your life. Scammers take advantage as scientists struggle to figure out what really lies at the core of longevity. It turns out that at least one thing guaranteed to make you live longer isn’t attached to an introductory offer of $19.99 per month and has no questionable fine print. You were already born with it.

Genetics were long considered a secondary factor in determining human lifespans. Scientists used to think that there wasn’t much of a link between molecular biology and birthday candles, with the randomness of environment and chance playing the main role in determining whether you would make it through another year. But recently, biologists Uri Alon and Ben Shenhar from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, analyzed extensive data and used mathematical models to determine that genetic heritability could account for at least half of what influences human lifespan—about double what previous estimates suggested.