Related Experiment Video
Updated: Nov 18, 2025

Surveying Low-Cost Methods to Measure Lifespan and Healthspan in Caenorhabditis elegans
Published on: May 18, 2022
Nature Versus Nurture: What Can be Learned from the Oldest-Old's Claims About Longevity?
Borut Poljsak1, Vito Kovač1, Tina Levec2
1Laboratory of Oxidative Stress Research, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Abstract:
Beneficial genetic or environmental factors that influence the length and quality of life can be evaluated while studying supercentenarians. The oldest-old can withstand serious/fatal illnesses more than their peers and/or their aging rate is decreased. Supercentenarians are an interesting group of individuals whose lifestyle is not particularly healthy according to the common guidelines, namely some of them seem to have similar harmful behaviors, but still manage to stay healthier for longer, and while eventually dying from the same degenerative diseases as the general population, they develop symptoms 20-30 years later. As there are not many supercentenarians by definition, it is worthwhile to diligently collect their data to enable future meta-analyses on larger samples; much can be learned from supercentenarians' habits and lifestyle choices about the aging process. Contributions of genetics, lifestyle choices, and epigenetics to their extended life span are discussed here.
More Related Videos
08:53Author Spotlight: Automated Lifespan Monitoring – Discovering Aging Dynamics with the Lifespan Machine
Published on: January 26, 2024
10:39A Suppressor Screen for the Characterization of Genetic Links Regulating Chronological Lifespan in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Published on: September 17, 2020
Related Concept Videos
Longitudinal Research
Nature and Nurture
Aging
Cellular Clock Theory
The cellular clock theory posits that the human lifespan is closely tied to the finite capacity of cells to divide, a phenomenon governed by telomeres, which are protective caps at the ends of...
Mitochondria
The Effect of Aging on Tissues
Biological Influences on Intelligence