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Concepts & theories

Heritability of lifespan

DEErblichkeit der Lebensspanne

Heritability of lifespan is the share of the variation in age-at-death that comes from inherited genetic differences in a given population. Classic twin studies put it at roughly 20 to 30% (Herskind et al. 1996). Then larger analyses found even less. A 2018 study (Ruby et al.), using genealogy databases, suggested it is even lower once you account for people choosing similar partners (assortative mating). Some estimates fell below 10% for lifespan itself. More recent work pushed back. Shenhar et al. (2026, Science) handled the confounders better. They put the intrinsic heritability of human lifespan at about 50%. That hints earlier estimates were deflated, by mixing up intrinsic and extrinsic causes of death. Even at the higher end, modifiable factors account for a big chunk of the variation. Those are lifestyle, environment, and chance events. And specific variants do matter. APOE ε4 and FOXO3A show replicated links to mortality and exceptional longevity, even though each one's effect is modest.

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Sources

  1. Ruby JG, Wright KM, Rand KA, Kermany A, Noto K, Curtis D, et al.. (2018). Estimates of the heritability of human longevity are substantially inflated due to assortative mating. *Genetics*doi:10.1534/genetics.118.301613
  2. Herskind AM, McGue M, Holm NV, Sørensen TIA, Harvald B, Vaupel JW. (1996). The heritability of human longevity: A population-based study of 2872 Danish twin pairs born 1870–1900. *Human Genetics*doi:10.1007/BF02185763
  3. Shenhar B, et al.. (2026). Heritability of intrinsic human life span is about 50% when confounding factors are addressed. *Science*doi:10.1126/science.adz1187