In-breeding 'key to male longevity'

http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5j_U08YkcpSa3MNHss92mYD9kwTyg

Marrying close family might be frowned upon in civilised society but a
new scientific study published appears to have discovered one benefit
to in-breeding: a long life.

According to an article in the New Scientist, getting together with a
cousin could be the answer to having children who live longer.

Giuseppe Passarino of the University of Calabria in Rende, Italy, who
conducted the study, believes in-breeding could provide the key to
longevity.

He said: "Everyone knows that in-breeding is bad - it increases your
chances of catching a range of disease.

"But on the other hand, our study suggests that if inbreds don't get
those diseases when they're young, they might have a better chance of
long life."

Mr Passarino and his colleagues used census data to pick out a
geographically isolated region of southern Italy which had more male
nonagerians than normal.

His team looked through the local phone book and found many people in
the region shared the same surname, suggesting that marriage of
relatives was common.

The scientist said it was possible to trace a surname because, like
the Y chromosome, it passed down the paternal line.

He now believes living longer could be linked to "homozygosity", where
someone has two identical copies of a gene which can occur when the
gene pool stays the same.

Leonid Gavrilov, from the University of Chicago, said: "It is
theoretically possible to observe more centenarians as a result of in-
breeding."

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