Could An Amish Gene Mutation – That Adds 10 YEARS – Extend Lifespans for Everyone?
Back in 2017, a story about a potentially life-extending gene mutation found in an Amish community went gangbusters.
You can understand why. The gene mutation was credited with giving its Amish carriers a lifespan 10 years longer than those Amish who lacked it. From that report:
The discovery was made by scientists from Northwestern University:
The first genetic mutation that appears to protect against multiple aspects of biological aging in humans has been discovered in an extended family of Old Order Amish living in the vicinity of Berne, Indiana, report Northwestern Medicine scientists.
…
Indiana Amish kindred (immediate family and relatives) with the mutation live more than 10 percent longer and have 10 percent longer telomeres (a protective cap at the end of our chromosomes that is a biological marker of aging) compared to Amish kindred members who don’t have the mutation, reports the new Northwestern study.
There was talk of developing new drugs and approaches to aging based on the gene:
A Japanese team has developed an experimental drug that “recreates the effects of the mutation” and is currently testing it. Dr. Douglas Vaughan, lead author of the paper, will seek to test the drug in the US next year.
Dr. Vaughan had this to say on the importance of the discovery:
“The findings astonished us because of the consistency of the anti-aging benefits across multiple body systems.”
In the ensuing seven-plus years, there hasn’t been a lot of media around this story, not that I’ve noticed anyway.
Update to the Story: Bringing the “Amish advantage” to everybody?
However, a few days ago CBS Evening News did a story on extending lifespan, which contained updates on the use of the “Amish advantage”, as Vaughan calls it:
“We are in a place where the biology of aging has been demystified,” said Dr. Douglas Vaughan, director of the Potocsnak Longevity Institute at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, and the head of the study. “…If we can slow down aging, just a little bit, we can push back the onset of disease, and we can give people a longer health span.”
The foundation of Vaughan’s research came from a small Amish community in Indiana, where he found that a genetic variation in about 10% of the population allows them to live, on average, a decade longer than those in their community.
“They can teach us a lot about what’s required for healthy aging to take place,” Vaughan said.
As far as actual research advances, this is the relevant bit:
A network of similar labs conducting the same research on three other continents is in the works, and there are already signs of progress. In trials [in Japan], pills that mimic the genetic variation that helps Amish live longer has done the same thing for mice.
Says Vaughan, “So, theoretically, we could bring this Amish advantage to everybody.”
The news on positive results from the pills trials is exciting. Perhaps the appearance of this story now is a sign that progress is reaching more consequential stages.
I have no idea how long this might take to produce something for humans, other than I would think it to be a long time. That said, it has been some years now since this discovery was made.
In addition to increased lifespan, the gene is associated with lower levels of diabetes, lower fasting insulin levels, and lower vascular age.
You can view the full report here:
Amish contribute to society in their own ways
A final note. Sometimes outsiders criticize the Amish for not providing society with doctors and other professionals, due to their cultural limitations placed on formal schooling.
Those folks should also note stories like this one, which remind us of the importance of special communities like the Amish in contributing to medical research and advances.
This isn’t the only example of that, of course. Amish communities are frequent subjects of studies investigating health problems that afflict greater society – such as heart disease, asthma, cancer, and secondhand smoke.
Founders effect
Another area where the Amish fairly frequently help is in studying rare genetic defects. These occur more often in Amish, not due to inbreeding, which they can avoid because they keep good genealogical records, but due to the founders effect. The number of Amish who emigrated to the U.S. early on was fairly small. Since they don’t marry outside the Amish religion, and don’t readily accept non-Amish into the religion, any potentially problematic genes tended to get magnified in the population. I have read about, and met one family while traveling, that readily enrolled their children in research studies about these genetic defects, which also occur in the general population.
Longer Life
I’m curious about how the Amish church feels about this. Are there any Amish groups who oppose participation in medical research? Usually when there are people that live much longer it’s because of their lifestyle. Amazing that can be turned into a pill. I met a friend’s father who was 114. He was 100% Native American, lived a traditional life.
A important question needs to be asked. How did this gene ‘mutation’ occur with this group of Amish(and other groups of different people around the world)? What caused it?
Was it a lifestyle consisting of constant activity, eating natural and relatively healthy foods that allowed for this change to occur?
They are trying to develop drugs to create this benefit. But if people would have a more consistently healthy diet and consistently active lifestyle, than they may, in time, create a foundation for this change to occur naturally so that future generations may benefit.
Maybe.