In an interesting discovery, scientists from the Northwestern University have claimed that children born to elderly fathers could live long lives. Basically, the findings suggested that ancestors who waited till a certain mature age before giving birth could have kids with extended life spans.
In order to slow down the aging process, the body needs to spend more time restoring tissues and cells. In this study, it was seen that the body achieved this state when fathers or grandfathers reproduced only after growing old.
Dan T.A. Eisenberg, lead author of the study and a doctoral candidate in anthropology at Northwestern, cited, “If your father and grandfather were able to live and reproduce at a later age, this might predict that you yourself live in an environment that is somewhat similar — an environment with less accidental deaths or in which men are only able to find a partner at later ages.”
In the trial that was conducted, it was found that children born to old fathers carried long telomeres. Unlike short telomeres, long counterparts are known to increase the life span of people. Moreover, the effects seemed to be consistent across generations, and not just limited to fathers.
The analysis reported in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed that elderly fathers passed on long telomeres to their children, which implied that there may be some unstated advantages of delaying reproduction. The investigators are of the opinion that the trial is in no way encouraging reproduction at old ages. Delayed children are known to have inherited harmful genes that may affect their general health.
However, the study results need to be duplicated in larger trails, the team concluded.