Scientists claim discovery of gene that controls youthful looks

Scientists have found the gene which could be the key to looking younger or older than we really are, they said today.

Researchers from the University of Leicester and King's College London made the breakthrough as part of research into the relationships between certain diseases with biological rather than chronological age.

British Heart Foundation Professor of Cardiology at the University of Leicester, Professor Nilesh Samani, who co-led the project, said chronological ageing is how old someone is in years, whereas biological age reflects whether the cells of some people are older or younger than suggested by their actual age.

He said: "There is accumulating evidence that the risk of age-associated diseases including heart disease and some types of cancers are more closely related to biological rather than chronological age.

"What we studied are structures called telomeres which are parts of one's chromosomes.

"Individuals are born with telomeres of certain length and in many cells telomeres shorten as the cells divide and age.

"Telomere length is therefore considered a marker of biological ageing.

"In this study what we found was that those individuals carrying a particular genetic variant had shorter telomeres i.e. looked biologically older.

"Given the association of shorter telomeres with age-associated diseases, the finding raises the question whether individuals carrying the variant are at greater risk of developing such diseases."

The researchers worked with the University of Groningen in the Netherlands on the project, which was funded by The Wellcome Trust and the British Heart Foundation.

The team analysed more than 500,000 genetic variations across the entire human genome to identify the variants, found near a gene called TERC.

Professor Tim Spector, from King's College London and director of the TwinsUK study, who co-led the project, said: "The variants identified lies near a gene called TERC which is already known to play an important role in maintaining telomere length.

"What our study suggests is that some people are genetically programmed to age at a faster rate.

"The effect was quite considerable in those with the variant, equivalent to between 3-4 years of 'biological ageing' as measured by telomere length loss.

"Alternatively genetically susceptible people may age even faster when exposed to proven 'bad' environments for telomeres like smoking, obesity or lack of exercise - and end up several years biologically older or succumbing to more age-related diseases."