Scientists fail to find a specific gene as the secret for living past 110

How do some people live past 110 years old? Is it superior genes, clean living, good luck or some combination of those?

Scientists studying "super-centenarians" said on Wednesday they had sequenced the genomes of 17 people aged 110 to 116 to try to determine whether they possessed genetic traits that may account for their membership in this exclusive club that includes only about 75 individuals, nearly all women.

"This marks the beginning of the search for key genes for extreme longevity," said Stuart Kim, a professor of developmental biology and genetics at Stanford University whose study was published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.

The study did not identify a common genetic characteristic in them, and the findings underscored the idea that living to extreme old age may involve lots of factors, the researchers said.

"Our hope was that we would find a longevity gene," Kim said. "We were pretty disappointed."

The study was the first to look at the genomes of multiple super-centenarians. Three prior studies were limited to one or two such people, Kim said.