FOR the first time researchers have identified a human gene firmly linked to ageing and longevity. People with a specific form of a gene are likely to live longer, healthier lives than those without it. "What this article really emphasizes is what we all know anyway - if you want to live a long and healthy life, choose your parents ...

A man who lived to age 114 died recently on a small Mediterranean island. Until age 102 he rode a bicycle every day to tend to his family's orchards. His 101-year-old brother, his two daughters aged 81 and 77, and a nephew aged 85 all still live in a small town on the Spanish island of Minorca. All of which got some scientists wondering: ...