Why do people in Italy, in particular, live longer than most? According to DNA samples, the answer lies in your genetic ancestry, and in a popular saying: what doesn’t kill you can make you stronger.

A new study went back to the prehistoric past to try to understand why there are currently people aged 100 or over who are still alive.

Previous work had already identified specific genes associated with greater longevity. But the new one, published last week in GeroSciencewent further and investigated whether the ancient populations enter into this complex equation, in which genetics, environment and lifestyle jointly influence the length of life.

Os centenarians in Italy, country with one of the highest percentages of centenarians in the world, share a genetic link: they would descend from the hunter-gatherers of western Europe, considered the first inhabitants of Europe after the Ice Age.

So, in particularly harsh conditions and under unfavorable circumstances, these prehistoric Europeans will have adapted to survive and ended up leaving a mark on time, passing on genes which, today, would be helping modern Italians to surpass 100 years of age.

There is a saying that sums up the idea: what doesn’t kill can make us stronger — and, by extension, also to whoever comes next.

Recent advances in paleogenomics made this type of cross-comparison between modern genomes and ancient DNA possible.

According to , researchers analyzed 333 Italian centenarians and compared their genetic makeup with 103 ancient genomesassociated with different European ancestries of the pastto investigate whether, and to what extent, ancient ancestral populations may have contributed to the genetic basis of human longevity.

It is not surprising that there are variations between genes of this group of centenarians. Still, the team andfound a striking similarity: they had a stronger genetic link to Western hunter-gatherers, and this link extends to the Italian population in general.

The study made it possible to identify that for every small increase in DNA of hunter-gatherers, thethe probability of a person becoming a centenarian rose 38%, and, highlights , this pronounced effect seems favor women.

Furthermore, when analyzing genetic distribution at the chromosome level, researchers concluded that the explanation is not linked to demographic factors, but rather to biological mechanisms that will have developedthroughout the evolutionary process, when these groups left the Ice Age — altering their genetic constitution.

These ancient populations would have been forced to evolve in the face of adversity. The human body would have to reinforce defense mechanisms and energy production. As a result, they would have passed on more robust genes to future generations — an idea that suggests that the most difficult periods can leave a positive legacy, and not just the inheritance of trauma.

Why do people in Italy, in particular, live longer than most? According to DNA samples, the answer lies in your genetic ancestry, and in a popular saying: what doesn’t kill you can make you stronger.

A new study went back to the prehistoric past to try to understand why there are currently people aged 100 or over who are still alive.

Previous work had already identified specific genes associated with greater longevity. But the new one, published last week in GeroSciencewent further and investigated whether the ancient populations enter into this complex equation, in which genetics, environment and lifestyle jointly influence the length of life.

Os centenarians in Italy, country with one of the highest percentages of centenarians in the world, share a genetic link: they would descend from the hunter-gatherers of western Europe, considered the first inhabitants of Europe after the Ice Age.

So, in particularly harsh conditions and under unfavorable circumstances, these prehistoric Europeans will have adapted to survive and ended up leaving a mark on time, passing on genes which, today, would be helping modern Italians to surpass 100 years of age.

There is a saying that sums up the idea: what doesn’t kill can make us stronger — and, by extension, also to whoever comes next.

Recent advances in paleogenomics made this type of cross-comparison between modern genomes and ancient DNA possible.

According to , researchers analyzed 333 Italian centenarians and compared their genetic makeup with 103 ancient genomesassociated with different European ancestries of the pastto investigate whether, and to what extent, ancient ancestral populations may have contributed to the genetic basis of human longevity.

It is not surprising that there are variations between genes of this group of centenarians. Still, the team andfound a striking similarity: they had a stronger genetic link to Western hunter-gatherers, and this link extends to the Italian population in general.

The study made it possible to identify that for every small increase in DNA of hunter-gatherers, thethe probability of a person becoming a centenarian rose 38%, and, highlights , this pronounced effect seems favor women.

Furthermore, when analyzing genetic distribution at the chromosome level, researchers concluded that the explanation is not linked to demographic factors, but rather to biological mechanisms that will have developedthroughout the evolutionary process, when these groups left the Ice Age — altering their genetic constitution.

These ancient populations would have been forced to evolve in the face of adversity. The human body would have to reinforce defense mechanisms and energy production. As a result, they would have passed on more robust genes to future generations — an idea that suggests that the most difficult periods can leave a positive legacy, and not just the inheritance of trauma.