Readers of this Blog May Be Interested in Reading About Single Gene Disorders Related To Advancing Paternal Age

Mutat Res. 1997 Jun 9;377(1):61-2. Links
Mutation load and human longevity.Gavrilov LA, Gavrilova NS, Kroutko VN, Evdokushkina GN, Semyonova VG, Gavrilova AL, Lapshin EV, Evdokushkina NN, Kushnareva YE.
Center for Longevity Research at A.N. Belozersky Institute, Moscow State University, Russia. gavrilov@glas.apc.org

Since paternal age at reproduction is considered to be the main factor determining human spontaneous mutation rate (Crow, J. (1993) Environ. Mol. Mutagenesis, 21, 122-129), the effect of paternal age on human longevity was studied on 8,518 adult persons (at age 30 and above) from European aristocratic families with well-known genealogy. The daughters born to old fathers (50-59 years) lose about 4.4 years of their life compared to daughters of young fathers (20-29 years) and these losses are highly statistically significant, while sons are not significantly affected. Since only daughters inherit the paternal X chromosome, this sex-specific decrease in daughters' longevity might indicate that human longevity genes (crucial, house-keeping genes) sensitive to mutational load might be located in this chromosome.

PMID: 9219579 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]