Scientists have found a reliable way to find out life expectancy

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The average life expectancy depends on the length of the end sections of chromosomes, called telomeres.

Spanish geneticists came to this conclusion while observing animals from the Madrid Zoo.

“We have discovered a universal biological law that determines how many years, months or days a particular creature can live. We have managed to prove that the length of telomeres determines the lifespan of all animals on Earth,” said Maria Blasco from the National Cancer Research Center in Spain.

Embroid cells and embryonic stem cells are practically immortal from a biological point of view – in an adequate environment they can live and divide indefinitely. However, the cells of an adult human body lose their ability to divide after 40-50 cycles and enter the aging phase.

As Blasco notes, these differences are due to the fact that each division of adult cells shortens their chromosomes, the end sections of which are marked by special repeating segments – telomeres. When telomeres become too short, the cell ceases to participate in the life of the organism.

Scientists also claim that stress, bad habits, chronic diseases and difficult living conditions accelerate the shortening of telomeres, which may explain, for example, why rich people live longer on average than lower strata of the population.

“We have shown that the main role in the aging process and in determining longevity is not played by the initial length, but by the rate of reduction of the terminal sections of chromosomes. Moreover, this parameter allows us to predict the average lifespan of any species more accurately than its mass or metabolic rate,” the researchers concluded.