Footprints in the Sand: Deep Taxonomic Comparisons in Vertebrate Genomics to Unveil the Genetic Programs of Human Longevity
With the modern quality, quantity, and availability of genomic sequencing across species, as well as across the expanse of human populations, we can screen for shared signatures underlying longevity and lifespan. Knowledge of these mechanisms would be medically invaluable in combating aging and age-...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-06-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Genetics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2021.678073/full |
| _version_ | 1831539104911720448 |
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| author | Stephen Treaster Stephen Treaster David Karasik David Karasik Matthew P. Harris Matthew P. Harris |
| author_facet | Stephen Treaster Stephen Treaster David Karasik David Karasik Matthew P. Harris Matthew P. Harris |
| author_sort | Stephen Treaster |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | With the modern quality, quantity, and availability of genomic sequencing across species, as well as across the expanse of human populations, we can screen for shared signatures underlying longevity and lifespan. Knowledge of these mechanisms would be medically invaluable in combating aging and age-related diseases. The diversity of longevities across vertebrates is an opportunity to look for patterns of genetic variation that may signal how this life history property is regulated, and ultimately how it can be modulated. Variation in human longevity provides a unique window to look for cases of extreme lifespan within a population, as well as associations across populations for factors that influence capacity to live longer. Current large cohort studies support the use of population level analyses to identify key factors associating with human lifespan. These studies are powerful in concept, but have demonstrated limited ability to resolve signals from background variation. In parallel, the expanding catalog of sequencing and annotation from diverse species, some of which have evolved longevities well past a human lifespan, provides independent cases to look at the genomic signatures of longevity. Recent comparative genomic work has shown promise in finding shared mechanisms associating with longevity among distantly related vertebrate groups. Given the genetic constraints between vertebrates, we posit that a combination of approaches, of parallel meta-analysis of human longevity along with refined analysis of other vertebrate clades having exceptional longevity, will aid in resolving key regulators of enhanced lifespan that have proven to be elusive when analyzed in isolation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-16T23:34:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-572d10e60ba140b48e4f0284a7b68c95 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-8021 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-16T23:34:22Z |
| publishDate | 2021-06-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Genetics |
| spelling | doaj.art-572d10e60ba140b48e4f0284a7b68c952022-12-21T22:11:46ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Genetics1664-80212021-06-011210.3389/fgene.2021.678073678073Footprints in the Sand: Deep Taxonomic Comparisons in Vertebrate Genomics to Unveil the Genetic Programs of Human LongevityStephen Treaster0Stephen Treaster1David Karasik2David Karasik3Matthew P. Harris4Matthew P. Harris5Department of Orthopaedics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United StatesDepartment of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United StatesAzrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, IsraelMarcus Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife, Boston, MA, United StatesDepartment of Orthopaedics, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United StatesDepartment of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United StatesWith the modern quality, quantity, and availability of genomic sequencing across species, as well as across the expanse of human populations, we can screen for shared signatures underlying longevity and lifespan. Knowledge of these mechanisms would be medically invaluable in combating aging and age-related diseases. The diversity of longevities across vertebrates is an opportunity to look for patterns of genetic variation that may signal how this life history property is regulated, and ultimately how it can be modulated. Variation in human longevity provides a unique window to look for cases of extreme lifespan within a population, as well as associations across populations for factors that influence capacity to live longer. Current large cohort studies support the use of population level analyses to identify key factors associating with human lifespan. These studies are powerful in concept, but have demonstrated limited ability to resolve signals from background variation. In parallel, the expanding catalog of sequencing and annotation from diverse species, some of which have evolved longevities well past a human lifespan, provides independent cases to look at the genomic signatures of longevity. Recent comparative genomic work has shown promise in finding shared mechanisms associating with longevity among distantly related vertebrate groups. Given the genetic constraints between vertebrates, we posit that a combination of approaches, of parallel meta-analysis of human longevity along with refined analysis of other vertebrate clades having exceptional longevity, will aid in resolving key regulators of enhanced lifespan that have proven to be elusive when analyzed in isolation.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2021.678073/fullphylogenomicsvertebrateslifespanlongevityevolutionGWAS |
| spellingShingle | Stephen Treaster Stephen Treaster David Karasik David Karasik Matthew P. Harris Matthew P. Harris Footprints in the Sand: Deep Taxonomic Comparisons in Vertebrate Genomics to Unveil the Genetic Programs of Human Longevity Frontiers in Genetics phylogenomics vertebrates lifespan longevity evolution GWAS |
| title | Footprints in the Sand: Deep Taxonomic Comparisons in Vertebrate Genomics to Unveil the Genetic Programs of Human Longevity |
| title_full | Footprints in the Sand: Deep Taxonomic Comparisons in Vertebrate Genomics to Unveil the Genetic Programs of Human Longevity |
| title_fullStr | Footprints in the Sand: Deep Taxonomic Comparisons in Vertebrate Genomics to Unveil the Genetic Programs of Human Longevity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Footprints in the Sand: Deep Taxonomic Comparisons in Vertebrate Genomics to Unveil the Genetic Programs of Human Longevity |
| title_short | Footprints in the Sand: Deep Taxonomic Comparisons in Vertebrate Genomics to Unveil the Genetic Programs of Human Longevity |
| title_sort | footprints in the sand deep taxonomic comparisons in vertebrate genomics to unveil the genetic programs of human longevity |
| topic | phylogenomics vertebrates lifespan longevity evolution GWAS |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2021.678073/full |
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